Hey everyone hope y'all are doing good ! Been awhile for me posting as I've been really busy with work and have been beat in the evenings.
So I've been driving about 40mi to work, so i pulled up to work and smelt coolant. Uhhhh water pump i bet so i crawled under and looked at the weep hole and sure enough it was peeing out. Call the wife tell her to pick up a NEW one not a reman and have it at the shop when i get there. Install went great with no trouble. The old pump bering was SHOT !!!!!!

So heres the question i have and some of the history. Got the truck in Feb of 06 with 90k on it. In 07 or 08 i did the first pump. Not sure if it was the stock one or not. Replaced with a New one from the parts store not OEM. So then in 2010 it took a dump again. Replaced it again with a new one from the parts store not a reman. Then about a year and a half ago that one went. Replaced it and installed a coolant filter thinking umm that might help and yesterday that one took a dump.
WHATS THE DEAL !!!!!!
I only drive 25k mi per year about. So I'm getting roughly 50k maybe out of a new not oem pump ? I spoke to a friend who has a shop and dose quite a bit of work on 7.3s and asked his opinion just for trouble shooting. He said it should last way longer and thats not many miles driven per year. Thinking it could be fan related or a pulley issue.

So i really need to get this figured out. Any opinions suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Im thinking the fan is outa balance, bad fan clutch but forget how to check if its bad, pulley is bent or maybe my harmonic balancer is so shot its yanking on the wp hard enough and not keeping constant pressure on it wearing it out.
Just a few things i can think of.

 

Maybe time to find a new parts store or brand of pump? You're not shopping at autozoo are you?

 

I'm thinking the belt tensioner will absorb any out of round beating dished out by the harmonic balancer, or any other pulley. I'd suspect silicate drop out if you do not have a coolant filter setup. That grit is nasty to water pump bearings. I'd recommend a bypass filtration system, or if you're feeling ambitious a IH cast iron pump.

 

Make sure the fan isn't bent air missing any pieces of the blades

 

LOL no zoo for me the Only thing I've ever got from there were glow plugs .............. HAHAHAHA just kidding

The first 2 pumps were from discount or advance auto, the one that just dumped was from napa and the one i just installed was from advanced.

 

New belt tensioner installed with last pump about a year and a half ago. Harmonic balancer is directly under the pump and it dose move. If it were worn bad it could be bouncing extremely bad causing a abnormal pressure on the pump instead of a constant pressure was my thought if that makes sense.

As for a filter like i mentioned i installed a coolant filter at the same time i did the previous pump.

 

Fan looks fine to me. Nothing noticeable to the naked eye.
Im not pulling out the tape measure, digital caliper, and angle finder lol

 

No other takers ?

 

I would try an OEM pump if I were you. I guess you've got one on there now, but just because you've gotten them at different stores doesn't mean they (or some) aren't the same brand.

Also, any visible cavitation? Do you check/maintain coolant of applicable? (Green and Gold) is your water ratio correct?

If you don't mind throwing parts at it, Replace the fan. Repeated bearing failures may suggest the fan is tweaked. Even if not visible to the naked eye, a little bit can do a lot at high RPM. Does the fan kick in often?

 

Have you been putting the same coolant back in?

 

"Hey these aftermarket pumps suck and keep failing."
...
"Guess I'll just try again and hope for better results."

You know that old saying about insanity, right?

 

Flush your cooling system and shift to ELC. I agree with David in post #3.

 

Ok so trying to figure this out. Thanks for all the help first off.
So yesterday morning i fired up the truck and could hear the fan running at like 20 or 30%. Went to a job towing 17k lb and it was about 75 to 80* outside. Ran some back roads for 10mi then 65mph for a good 7 or 8 mi. When i stopped my fan came on full roar then herd it fade out. Seems to be working correctly but i think its not kicking off totally. After coming home and dropping my equipment i sat for a while and ran into town. My eot was 140* and i could hear my fan on when getting out to unlock my gate. Not 100% on but more like 30 or 40% and could feel a good breeze coming from under the truck. Same thing as first thing in the morning after sitting all night. EOT would be around 70* and ambient temp outside is 70 to 75*.
Not totally sure how to check if the fan clutch is bad but to me I'm not positive it should be working like this. It should be off at least until it gets hot. But I'm new to this and am not real sure. Is there a way to accurately check if its bad ? I had read about it having no resistance when its cold or something like that.

Trey the OEM Pump at the stealer was 300 bones. I needed it that day as this is my work and dd truck. If I'm not working i loose a lot of money so had to get something that day and 300 bills is not in anyones budget for something to keep wearing out that rapidly. Not saying that oem would but a aftermarket pump should got longer than 40k mi as my buddy has 460k on his 7.3 and replaced the stocker at 260k with a aftermarket one. I would hate to blow a 300 pump up in 40k mi due to a bad fan or fan clutch.

I love oem but 300 is too much. Im thinking the fan is bad and or the clutch.

As far as coolant i have a coolant filter ! Last pump i put in i added fresh ELC. Im Planning on doing a coolant flush according to the thread i read. Flush the entire system and use CAT ELC.

If i can't find out how to check the fan properly for wear i will be replacing the clutch and the blades. Been looking at rock auto and found a Hayden clutch for a good price which i have herd from other members that they are very good and are made in the usa compared to oem which is made in mexico.
If you pull up rock auto and do our ymm click cooling system and look at fan clutches you will see 2 oem ones. One is 176 and one is 190. Was thinking going oem as its only 60 more that the hayden but not sure of the difference in the two oem ones.

Thanks for all the help and i hate to throw parts at it but like Trey mentioned the fan could be bent to the naked eye and who knows if the PO had it out and dropped it.
So I'm doing a new fan, Fan clutch, Pully, coolant flush with Cat ELC and a new coolant filter. If it takes a poop in 40k then i will get the oem pump LOL !!!!!

So i need some help here figuring out which parts to get. I will be ordering from Rock Auto so suggestions from there would be most helpful as they seem to have good pricing on aftermarket and oem parts.

THanks Y'all and happy fathers day !!!!

 

Water Pump OEM 7.3L - Riffraff Diesel Performance

 

YUP !!!!!!!!!! But like i said when you got to have it that day ............. You do not have the option to order it and wait a week ! Some of us use our trucks day in and day out for work. When your hauling equipment in and out of the woods and have equipment sitting there costing you money because your stuck at home with no ride because your waiting on a part, not only are you not making money your spending it with stuff sitting and not being used and not making a deadline. But thought i mentioned that already.