WTH?!?!? Now I lost my water pump!

[Aaron Berk]

2 days after the vac pump, and now my water pump toasted.

The bearings let go and the pulley went sideways and bit into the pump housing, and the fan started whacking the serpentine belt.

This sucks.

And I changed out the pump in the Lowes parking lot was there from 8pm till 12:30 ish what a nightmare.

But my fan clutch gave me grief so I have the old assembly here at the house and my truck is still at Lowes.

I'll remove the fan and clutch in the morning and take it back out to Lowes and finish rescuing my truck.

So what's going on here, is my truck dieing on me?

[retmotor]

Maybe not. I'd assume you have quite a few miles on what you're replacing. It seems like when I started replacing pumps and pulleys on my '95 (I'm sure this time it was the '95...) I had to replace several. I believe that was at 210k miles.

It's possible I suppose you have or had something out of alignment on the front end causing premature bearing wear. I bought an idler pulley from NAPA (once) and the alignment was so bad you could easily see the misalignment just by looking at it.

Oh, and bummer.

[Aaron Berk]

ty for the moral booster Brian.

I'm wondering if improper coolant could have caused this.

The bearings behind the pulley were spit out.

I've got pics of the whole brutal episode, I'll be putting them on my shutterfly site this weekend.

[Aaron Berk]

so I'm checking out my failed water pump. The inner fins dug into the casting and created a real nice grooved pattern into the pump housing.

It looks pretty and all, but where did all the shaving go that the fins dug up?

I'm guessing I should pull my truck in for a fluid flush. And I'm also looking into the coolant filter mod.

Think the locals will know what coolant to use on my PS? I'm not counting on it.

[kanuck15]

yes to the flush and eh to the filter. Our trucks dont so much need special coolants like a 6.0 or the IDI 7.3 as we dont have egr issues or cavitation in the cylinder walls like an idi. But dont use junk either.

[Aaron Berk]

Kanuck, your the 1st one I've heard say our trucks are different. I was on the tip of the ice berg reading up on all the coolant mumbo jumbo. there's allot of info out there. I'm just looking for the real deal.

So your saying our trucks aren't sensitive, sweet. I'll look into that.

Now whats your thought on the coolant filter, looks like you hit a typo and I'm not all that good at deciphering

[kanuck15]

Alright ive never heard our trucks are different, BUT that doesnt mean go cheap. A coolant filter is a great idea but eh its one more filter to change and its a bit of a PITA to plum in. idk i never found a use for one but its another level of protection thats for sure. same as a trans fluid filter.

[retmotor]

Originally Posted by kanuck15

...Our trucks dont so much need special coolants like a 6.0 or the IDI 7.3 as we dont have egr issues or cavitation in the cylinder walls like an idi....

Originally Posted by kanuck15

Alright ive never heard our trucks are different....

Should I be confused by this?

[kanuck15]

no, What was meant to be taken out of that was i never heard out trucks are different in the sense that they required special coolant

[Aaron Berk]

Well my midnight pump job was a failure. I drove it across the parking lot and into a tire shop to get the coolant flushed. And found some leaks

Pump leaked in 2 spots, on the top where the 2 short bolts are, just to the left of the pulley, and then at the lower elbow (water inlet? pipe)

So I've got it home now though, praise the Lord.
And I pulled it all off again, turns out those 2 short bolts need aviation permatex (so says my Haynes manual) but ALSO I pinched the gasket at that location The round gasket was the culprit for the inlet tube, looks like I used the one that was for the thermostat.

On a plus note, the pump I got at AutoZone came with a new lower inlet tube which is a MUCH heavier duty version of the original. Thicker flange and it weighs about a pound or 2 more.

I picked up some "water pump specific" permatex and plan on using it and no OEM gaskets since I need to drive the truck tomorrow afternoon.

Anyone think this is a bad idea?