3rd Leg Syndrome

Ok, so I may not know much about vehicles. But I do know when something is wrong.
I have run into a problem that I call the,"3rd Leg Syndrome". It has to do with macho men or the elusive woman don't know squat man.
Recently I left out on a trip that I KNEW something was wrong about 30 miles down the road. I was able to make it another 40 miles before my 2004 Peterbilt truck pulling 50,500 pound of rice was spitting, sputtering, and throwing a little bit of black smoke from it's stacks, not to mention I could not get it the last 10 miles to go over 55 mph. I stopped before I got to a scale and called into work telling them to bring a oil filter wrench as my gauge was in the red, the Pyrometer was in the 900 degree range and all the other gauges were out of whack.
I thought of the Bermuda Triangle for one split second.
Another one of 2 drivers who left the yard after me showed up, he changed out the filters using a screw driver and my rubber mallet.(OK, I never would have thought of that one) He put automatic transmission fluid in the filters and tightened them back up. I started the engine after using a 1/2 can of ether to start it. It still sounded like the gerbil's ran out of power and the engine was banging around. The other driver called the boss man thinking it might be an injector, a common break down, and I sat till he brought me another truck. End problem: a broken Rocker Arm that the bolts sheered off from. Under warranty.

Last week after I got my truck back I was coming back from Nashville, my check engine light flashed 4 times. "OH great, now what?". I also found the head of what I thought was a nail in my steer tire. Bad JU JU to pull it out, just leave it till I get to yard I thought.
I get to the yard, told boss man a engine hose was bubbling at the truck wash (Chrome is beautiful when clean, nail in steer tire, and the check engine light flashing. He pulled out a small 3/4 inch screw that the head flattened on, the hose did not bubble for him (making me look stupid), and said it was only minor stuff. He dismissed the flashing check engine light.
The next trip I did what is called a pre-trip, I added 1 and 1/2 gallons of anti- freeze, after going 7 miles the temp guage was up to about 230 degrees. I stopped added 2 more gallons of anti-freeze. The rest of the trip was UN-eventful.
I got a call from the boss man's wife telling me that there was a problem with my truck and had to take the 2007 Pete. Well at least the cigarette lighter worked to plug in my cell phone.
End problem: water in the oil pan. And currently at the Catapillar shop.

I may not have a third leg, but I know when something is wrong.