First off I took my truck to the Ford dealership to get it winterized. I guess they forgot to put in ANTI_FREEZE and we had a freeze and it pushed my freeze plugs out in the back of my block. I called them and they said theres nothing they can do, and I dont want to take it back to them. I just had my freeze plugs in the back of my block replaced yesterday, the mechanic serviced it with anti-freeze and it holds coolant with no problems. Now I dont get any heat in the cab it just blows cool air and the engine over heats above 45mph what could be the problem and what do I do? Me and my wife have to get back and forth and I need my truck...please help.

When the second shop repaired the frost plugs, did they replace the thermostat?
If the engine froze hard enough to push out plugs, I would imagine the delicate thermostat could also have become damaged.
There are other possibilities; like the impeller of the water pump were damaged and the coolant isn’t circulating at the proper volume.
An air lock in the system, that for some reason the engine or heater core won’t burp it out. We’ve been vacuum filling cooling systems now for quite a wail. The tool attaches to the filler of the cooling system. The tool then sucks all the air out of the cooling system. You then turn a valve on the tool to open a suction tube that is in a container of coolant.
Once the system is full you can almost just cap the system & walk away. Works pretty good and no more air locks or blowing anti freeze out all over the ground, when the engine decides to burp out its air.
Here’s a pic of one style of vacuum filler.

Dan.

Canadian "EH"

yes the t'stat was replaced...and how likely is it that I would need a new water pump and how much is that? Also would the air lock create both problems like this ( overheat and no heater) and where can I get one of these vaccum tools?

do the 01 f-150's have a radiator cap as well as a overflow? and if so is the radiator cap under the plastic fan housing?

The likely hood that pump was damaged is pretty low but possible.
Yes an air lock could cause both issues; the air in the system is taking up space where coolant should be. When the coolant is low the heater is the first thing that doesn’t get coolant.
As for the vacuum filler; most auto parts stores would have them. The only thing is that you’ll need a fairly large air compressor to supply the tool. It uses the air pressure to create a vacuum affect and draw the air out of the cooling system.
I believe that this truck uses a plastic pressure bottle but can’t remember right now; if there isn’t a rad cap that is visible on or near the rad, then it uses a pressure bottle.
I’m leaning more toward an air lock but if the engine has got hot a few times the new thermostat may also been damaged again?
What you could try doing is to loosen off a heater hose clamp and slide a small screwdriver in between the hose and the hose’s spigot. This may allow any trapped air to find its way out. I’ve had some success doing this but be careful, the engine will need to be running to force the air out; which means hot coolant.

Dan.

Canadian "EH"

so i guess i would be asking your opinion on this...someone else is telling me that it could be a heater control valve, but the problem aside if it is the air lock in the system do you think that pulling a vacuum on the system and filling it that way would fix the overheating and the heater problem?

Don't know what engine you have but there was no heater control valve listed for this F-150 but a by-pass hose was which pretty much means it wouldn't overheat due to a totally closed heater control valve. The air lock possibility or broken impeller in water pump perhaps.

FYI: Please correct me but most "Freeze", "Frost" plugs are not to protect the engine but are called "core" plugs that are used for cleaning out the block when it is cast. I've seen engines crack without those moving at all and am kind of surprised it's not junk!

T
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Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest, Boston
http://acsource.net/acforum/index.php

Like what Tom said I don’t think this system uses a water control valve; if it did and it was restricting coolant flow it would only be the cause of the heat loss not the overheating engine.
As for vacuum filling the system I’m not sure at this point; would need to get involved first hand to answer.

Dan.

Canadian "EH"