and by looking at this sight the missing anti freeze seems to be a common thing. scary. all this talk about bad heads....very scary.
my symptoms are......no visible leaks, plugs fine(nice tan colour and dry), oil not milky frothy or whiteish, but at times the anti freeze is down. the truck always runs on the cold side, needle barely moves. last winter i noticed a couple of times though this.
driving along the road,no hot air just cold air...then the tempurture gauge would go high, drive a bit more then the problem would go away. only does it in the cold(very cold weather). has not happened since last winter. seemed as if the antifreeze was freeezing up or i was getting some sort of blockage.
odd?
also, i just cahnged the oil yesterday and it was great, no signs of sludge at all. where could the stuff be going?

 

Put some of those aluminum flakes in and that has cured it for 5 years. Now my 97 has an intermitant leak (1/2 pint a month) and the #4 plug gets a little tan coating on it. Plug has to be replaced every 5-12K. Tightened lower intake bolts but that hasn't helped. Have you checked the weap hole on the pump? These can have a tiny leak for months. Also had to replace radiator on 92 because it developed a million tiny weap holes.

 

When my head gasket went (well, it didn't blow or anything...I just replaced it to prevent that), the signs of leakage were at the joint of the head and block. You'll need to get underneath the vehicle and have a look with a flashlight (around where the spark plugs are). If you see a yellowish/whiteish flaky buildup, you've found your leak. Mine seemed to leak at the corners...gosh darnn Torx system!