Driving to the city this afternoon I think my waterpump went by-by on me. I noticed white smoke in my mirrors and pulled over. Pretty much the entire engine compartment was wet with coolant. So I let it sit and attempted to make it back home. I filled up with water along the way to make sure there was at least some fluid in there.

My temp gauge might be on crack but the highest it ever got was 220 or so. The truck ran fine otherwise. One thing I noticed is that my heat was blowing out cold air. I'd imagine that was because the reserviour was empty?

My big question for you guys is that since I got the truck home and plugged in for the night... will it be ok? I'm sure there is more water than antifreeze in the mixture right now. I'm sure the block will be ok, but what about the radiator?

I'm almost 100% sure its the WP since when I poured the water in it started driping from directly the water pump region. It's lookin like I'm gonna half to be hauled back to the farm by a cummins, which is about 130 miles away. (I'm sure its a lot cheaper than having a shop do it, though...)

 

It might be a bad idea to plug it in cause you have no way to know if the heater is submerged. if its not it will instantly burn out. I would try to get it in a heated bay. if not fill it with water and a little bit of coolant and plug it in then you should be good to go.

 

Ok. I just unplugged it. Hopefully it did not short out. (Lets pray)

I'll put some more water in it. With the antifreeze though, I doubt I can find my Zerex-G-05 stuff at this time of night. What do you think I should do about that TJ? Can I fill it up with something else and then flush it?

Edit: The only option I have is it to sit outside right now since I'm not a home.

 

OH yeah you just did a flush and fill with Zerex!! ouch!! yeah just fill it with the cheapest stuff you can find then once you get it fixed refill with zerex after you flush it again. The good things is that Zerex will mix with anything.

 

TJ.. you are my hero... Now Lets hope I just didn't cache my block heater...

The Zerex is expensive.. but thats how things go. Thanks for the help.

 

TJ is there anyway I can check if I messed up my block heater? Should I plug it in tonight?

I imagine I'll start it and let it run to mix the coolant up a little bit.

Ok, I just filled it up with straight antifreeze... It only took a little over 1 gal until it started leaking at the pump. Is this enough?

 

Should be fine. I would put an extension cord that has a 75 watt bulb or greater under the hood. That will add good heat under there. You can also put a heater in there if possible.

I am sorry to hear of the bad news at such a bad opportunity. Good Luck.

 

Low of 22 here tonight. What sucks is I don't have any options. I don't want to leave a heat lamp on it all night...

I think it would be fine too. There is definitely antifreeze in the block and its not that cold that it would cause that much damage.

Also, what is a good waterpump to get?

 

I know these engines hold heat for hours. You can crank it and get it warm every 6 hours or so. That will keep it warm.

 

Alright. I decided to repair it in the driveway. Are there any good instructions/threads for a waterpump removal/install? Any tips?

 

To check your block heater just put an ohm meter on it. if you have somewhere around 15 ohms your good. lower is fine as well but if your over 50 ohms I would guess would be bad. If the heater burned out you will have a OL (out of limits) reading.

For the waterpump its pretty staight forward. hardest part is removing the fan clutch. Once your get it broke free spin it off the pump. its prety easy to remove the shroud as well. Two bolts up top, a plastic strap around the lower rad hose and remove the upper hose from the rad and pull the shroud and fan up and out together. then remove the upper hose from the neck. Unbolt the neck. remove the heater hose from the top of the WP. unhook the temp sensor and start unbolting. there are 10 or 12 bolts all 10mm heads. get the WP on a bench. remove the sensors, plugs and fittings that aren't included with your new one and reinstall.

As for where to buy a WP, I just get them from Napa but most other places have good ones as well. Many have life time warrantee's as well.

 

Ok. Sounds like I'm gonna have to get that fan puller. Most autoplaces should have that I'd imagine.

My goal is to start at daylight tomorrow...

Does this sound normal.. I started it a couple of times during the night and throughout the day just to make sure she doesn't freeze on me. On my aftermarket temp gauge it won't even register at 100 is shes been idling for 15 min or so. How long do you think I should idle to keep it somewhat warm from freezing.

 

These truck don't warm up good jsut idling so it sounds pretty normal not to register on the guage just idling for 15. I think letting it idle will be plenty every couple hours though

 

Is a pipe wrench also required to remove the fan clutch assembly even if I have the "special" tool? This can be removed by one person right? I'm just trying to get all my ducks in a row so I can get it back together tomorrow.

Also, should I permatex around the entire gasket area or just enough to hold the gasket in place so it doesn't fall.

 

A pipe wrench probably won't fit down where it needs to go. Usually a fan clutch set will have a holder for the WP pulley and a wrench to fit the clutch.

As far as your permatex a few small dabs where the o-ring for the WP doesn't want to stay put will be fine. The WP's seal everytime with no issue as long as you get the surface clean. The thermostat housing you already know about I think. and the lower elbow jsut has an o-ring there and shouldn't need ay extra sealant since its all new.