NEW and I NEED HELP!!!!!

I have a 97 hoe with 156,XXX miles. My radiator hose connected at the engine had come off and sprayed all over the engine compartment. I have finally gotten it to start but only if I give it some gas and to keep it from dieing immediatly i have to keep on the gas for a min. Same thing happens when I shift it to drive or reverse.

Then I drove it around the block twice when the check gauge light came on and it said it was overheating but when i stopped and popped the hood i could touch the radiator cap and most parts of the engine and it was barely warm.

What is wrong and what can I do to fix it?

I had these two problems happen separately in a 86' k5 Blazer I owned when I was younger. The dying instantly happened after I drove through a giant puddle, and got water in my distributor. It caused my spark to jump all over the place and die if I shifted. That could have happened when your hose blew.

The other thing could be that you either need to burp your radiator, just start it and let it run for a while with the cap off so there is no air pocket traveling around in your system, then refill to proper level. The other thing could be you need a new thermostat, and/or new temp sensor. There are 2, one on the intake, which tells the computer what temp your engine is, and the other usually on the drivers side next to the exhaust manifold, that one goes to your instrument panel.

This post is kind of old, but let me know if you got it figured out.

check your distributor cap, take it off and clean her out and make sure its dry. do the same with the plugs and wires.

Ok I will have to try all those but now other thing I found out is my oil is milky so its coolant I guess in the oil. When we refilled the radiator the water started draining out the exhaust as fast as we put it in. Both seem to indicate a head gasket blown or cracked cylinder, how can I find out which one it is?

I would guess bad head gasket, I have done this about 3 or 4 times in my life. Once on one of my first cars and a few times for friends. Relatively easy fix if you have all weekend to do it, but the engine is never the same after a repair like that. The mileage seems way too low for a problem that severe, you'll know immediately after you take the heads off. One side of the engine (cylinder walls and head) is usually really really clean, meaning water has gotten into that side and douched out all the carbon build up.

Let me know how everything went.