Please Help! Magic Truck Makes Coolant Disappear??

My truck is loosing coolant. Even when its full I have no heat. I can not find any leaks. There isn't anything showing up in the oil. I'm completely stumped!!! Has this happened to anybody else? Its an 86 B2000. I let it sit for 2 weeks after topping off the coolant and burping it and its still full, so the problem only happens when it runs.

Does it have white smoke coming out the exhaust when its running? It sounds like the head gasket is going bad.

It white smokes when I start it but it goes away pretty quick. I checked the oil for coolant in it cuz head gasket is what I was thinking too but the oil is nice and brown.

the oil should be black. brown sounds like water in the oil.

Ug that's not fun. So basically coolant *is* getting in the oil, I just didn't notice. I was thinking it would be grey but I guess that's when it gets more severe. I've never done a head gasket, how much work is involved? Simple procedure or major tear down?

It involves completely removing the head from the block
and everything else attatached to the head that will be in the way

oil is only black when you dont change it on a regular basis. The oil should remain the same color (tan)
from brand new untill 3 months or 3000 miles latter when you change it next

That's kinda what I originally thought. I'm very anal about maintenance and only have about 2000 miles on this oil change. The coolant loss is troublesome though. I've parked it over cardboard and of course there are oil drips everywhere but no green spots. Its over cooling too, so I changed the thermo and still no difference. Heater blows ice cold even after driving for 30 mins.

head gaskets can go bad and not put water in the oil, if it blows in a small spot thats right next to the piston, thats what it sounds like to me. when its cold it leaks in to the cylinder and thats where your losing it, hinch the smoke... when the motor warms up a little it may stop, and thats why the smoke stops

that makes sense. I've had it parked for a few days so before I go to work tomorrow I'll give the exhaust a sniff check. How long do these things tend to run with a dying gasket like that? I don't really want to put the money into fixing it since I'm in the market for a 4x4 but I won't have the cash for a new truck for a while.