So the other day I noticed a new wet spot under the truck. Upon inspection it looked like anti-freeze, and appeared to be coming from around the water pump where the upper radiator hose connects to the pump. The area around it was a bit damp so I started the truck and could see very small air bubbles coming from the gasket between the water pump and the motor. I hadn't driven the truck in a bout 18 hrs and after driving the truck for the last three days I have not noticed any more leaking?? So my question is is this normal?? Am I missing something??

Water temps have been normal but I have lost some water over a long period of time. Heres a few pics of where it was leaking...it was coming from the gasket just to the right of the plug under the upper hose.

 

it may just need a new seal or it could be a fluke

 

Yeah I'm kinda hoping for a fluke but it still worries me. Ive got a lot of towing miles coming up this summer and don't want to get stuck on the side of the road!!

Wondering how hard it is to change the water pump out and re-seal everything? Can you get the fan, pully, and pump off without taking out the radiator, intercooler etc??

 

I replaced my water pump two weeks ago. It's a pretty easy job. There is a really good series of videos on YouTube from Powerstrokehelp with step by step instructions. I couldn't tell from your picture where your leak is. If it's just from the thermostat housing you can replace that separately. Mine was leaking from between the water pump housing and the front of the engine. Took about 3 hours but most of that was hunting tools that my son borrowed. Try to order all the parts you will need beforehand. You will need to buy a thermostat gasket as it does not come with the thermostat. Good luck.

By the way mine only leaked intermittently but overall I lost about a gallon and a half of antifreeze.

 

That is exactly where mine was leaking. The pictures I took were just to give a bit of reference because at the time it was not leaking and hasent leaked since. I think I will start to order some parts and change it before it hoses me!!

Think I will order through dieselsite.com and get a new water pump, with the aluminum thermostat housing and the 203* t-stat. Also I will probably do all the radiator hoses and flush the system with new ELC coolant and distilled water!!

One question has anyone ever had any trouble with the 203* thermostat??

 

i think if you search you will find a long thread about the 203* thermostat.
i dont think it is good for me as it is 99* out to day, and it is to be close to 105* tomorrow.

 

I replaced my water pump a few years ago, and it's leaked between the new pump and the motor twice. That seems really odd, but I haven't bothered to tear it apart and fix it.

I ran the 203* t-stat for awhile. I don't know that it hurts anything, but I'm not sure it does anything, either.

Mark

 

Well it looks like this is a "fairly" common issue that may not really be a problem, so I think for now I will just keep an eye on it. But I may change out the pump and re seal with new t-stat before the 1200 mile tow trip to the rubicon in august just for peace of mind.

Any more input on the 203* thermostat is appreciated. I've search around a bit but didn't really find what I was looking for, just wondering if anyone that has ran it has ever had any problems with their truck running too hot at all??

 

This is on my to-do list also. I just rec'd my pump, 203 thermo.,t-stat housing, & coolant filter from DieselSite. Lifetime warr. on the pump. Will see how the pump lasts. Was told it's a Chineese housing, with USA internals/ assembled here in the U.S.. My PEPBOYS pump lasted 85,000 mi. I thought I'd try the 203 & see. It will be my first eng. mod, woo hoo.

 

When I had mine in, I thought, maybe I saw a 0.5mpg increase. If I did, that was the only positive effect. In a live tuning session, Jody suggested I take it out, as he saw 250* oil temps while towing uphill. I replaced it with a stock one, but I think the oil temp issue was from a dead fan clutch, which I just now got around to replacing. If that's the case, there were no negative effects, either. If your t-stat is bad, it's a good time to try the 203* one. I wouldn't pull a working t-stat to put in a 203*, though.

If you want my 203* stat, you can get it cheap. (Can you send beer through the mail?) Actually, you can have it for shipping.

Mark

 

Thanks for the offer Mark, man our little brotherhood is awesome!! But I think if/when I do change out the water pump I'll probably just get a new stock stat I really don't like worrying about little stuff like that that cant just be changed out real quick like a CPS with no coolant mess. Mine runs just fine now so I'll just keep it that way, but I do like the idea of the aluminum housing that wont rust.