Ok, I have been following the thread on the E-fan upgrades ( I have a Mark VIII fan in the garage waiting to go in...) and now have another question...Has anyone used an aftermarket water pump? I am probably going to be replacing my water pump soon and I am wondering if I should go to the stealership or go to the local parts house to get the "house brand". Might consider a high flow unit from somewhere like Jegs or Summit, etc. if there have been good results out there....all started while I was looking at a power steering hose leak and saw coolant dripping off the bottom of the harmonic balancer...so I followed it up and it appears to be coming from the middle area of the water pump..(weep hole???) I couldn't see past the pulley but I know i should not have coolant where it is...lol.

 

I'm think'n of buy'n this one http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...50520_-1_10135

the 55 gpm heavy duty one.

I have yet to find an aftermarket electric waterpump that is a direct fit for the D.

This inline one is really spendy and you have to keep the original pump in place for the plumbing.

I'm gonna get another OEM pump from the junkyard, remove the impellor, weld the shaft, put a bearing on the shaft and reinstall the pulley as an idler so I don't have to mess with figuring what size belt would work without the waterpump pulley in place.

I'm an engineer by trade, and this is pretty involved and expensive.
Any way that's what I've found and this is my game plan as of so far, the idea sounds good, but I'm sure that I'll open some new cans of worms on the way to making it work.

If you find anything better than the inline pump be sure to post it here.

Almost forgot, sounds like a weephole leak. It's really hard to see anything from the top, ifyou get right under the harmonic balancer, with a flashlight and maybe a small inspection mirror, you can see alot more.
What to look for, look at the bottom hose around where it's clamped to the waterpump, it will look like coolant was sparyed on it, it also makes it look like the timing cover seal is leaking, this is because it's being thrown all over by the crankshaft pulley and the waterpump pulley.It's hard to see and the stuff almost never hits the ground due to the size and location of the leak.

This was how I descovered the waterpump on my 360 D was leaking out the weep hole.
Hope this helps, and don't get robbed at the dealer, just pay the extra $20 or so for a "new waterpump" instead of a rebuild. The pump runs around$60-$80, no big.

 

you got to watch getting on that moves to much water if it does it wont have time to cool enough in the radiator and will have to get a bigger radiator to avoid over heating problems i would go with a quality aftermarket stock if you dont have cooling problems as far as electric they pull alot of amps and need a big altanotor for daily driving not a good choice

 

thanks for mentioning the matter of too much flow, thats something I always keep in mind...some say Im **** about things, but you have to think about everything...I would love to run an electric pump, but with the addition of the electric cooling fan (removed the clutch fan) I don't want to overload the electrical system. Anyway...ok, how much better is a new pump from Mother Mopar (dealership) than a new pump from Autozone or another parts house? The new one from the dealership is $150 and the new one from Autozone is $70.....

 

d360, get the autozone pump, unlike the over-priced stealership mopar replacement pump, the autozone pump has an optional lifetime warranty, so if it craps out you can take it back free of charge for another one as long as you have the reciept for as long as you own the D.

bbd, I have to call the pump manufacturer to get the amp draw for the pump, but I've already found good electric fans.

I'm getting 2 12" fans that draw 3000CFM each and pulls 7.5amps each for the radiator and a 10"er that draws 1250CFM for a 5.7 amp draw through a B&M 11"x11" Supercooler for the trans oil 100% independent the main rad.

Net amp draw = 20.7 amps rounded to 21 amps.

The stock secondary e-fan requires 30 amps and pulls alot less CFM than the net of 6000CFM through the 2 12"ers not counting the seperate trans cooler's 10"er which adds another 1250 CFM for a net total of 7250CFM draw with all three fans running at a mere 21 amps and all controlled by temp to cycle on and off along with one of the 12's cycled by the a/c high pressure swicth as a secondary override to the temp switch.

E-fan capacity and amp draw no sweat.

E-pump flow is controlled by the bi-metal t-stat in the top hose to engine block coupling and the pump is protected by the heater cores' bypasses.

I can't say yet what the pump's amp draw is, but parts america aka Checker, Kraigen, Schucks sells a 176 amp alternator for the D for about $200. The stock alternator puts out 136amps and costs maybe $30 less than the 176amp one at the same store. So as long as the pump does'nt pull more than 40 amps, it should be good, and I can't imagine it being more than 30 amps, as the wire size required for DC amperage is significantly larger than the ac equivalant. I don't see a pump needing #10 awg wire, which is roughly what is called for at 40-50 amps dc.

Flow, the air flow is far more critical than the waterflow because the air is taking the heat from the water, therefore the longer the air takes to pass through the core the more heat it will take on, this is because heat always flows from a substance with more heat content to a substance with less heat content(heat flows to cold). This is however only true to a point because to cool something down you must be able to remove the heat at a greater rate than it is being generated.

This electric water pump and fan stuff requires a grasp of knowledge in HVACR and electrical and controls, along with deep pockets for the expensive parts or deeper pockets to pay someone else who knows what they're doing to do it for you, because if you srew up it could cost you your engine.

Me, what do I know, I'm just an engineer, I work on 750 BHP Scotch Marine firetube boilers, 1600ton Traine chillers, ac units, 16 cylinder turbo diesel power generators, reach ins, walk ins, fire control systems, 3 phase 480v transformers, 3phase comercial building electrical, single phase residential buildingelectrical, weld oxy-accetlene tig mig & stick, dc electrical, ac&dc electric and pneumatic controls 40hrs a week for a paycheck, just a work'n stiff.I feel pretty comfortable designing a custom temperature management system for my Durango's engine and trans that works better and frees up a few ponies, do you ?

 

Thanks for the info on the autozone pump....I wasn't even thinking about that aspect of it. The job description wasn't for me was it?

 

No, durango360, only the first small part about the mopar vs autozone pump was for you.

Everything else was addressed to bbd (short for bigbaddurango). His waterflow comment about the electric pump pissed me off because it was not backed by fact or science and was completely unfounded along with the amp useage statement.

I will never belittle someone in need of assistance, however when someone chimes in on a project I'm putting together and chatting about to share personal findings with others and has no facts to back up what they're saying and knows less about the subject matter than I do due to lack of research and trade knowledge it tends to **** me off because it can complicate the understanding of the idea or concept being conveyed to someone with little or no base knowledge on the matter being discussed such as the major modification of installing an inline electric water pump on the Durango.

Basically he erked me a little because I posted a link for you to see an electric water pump that might work pretty good, and spent hours and days finding it initially for myself to use on my 360 and he says oh that flows too much and uses too many amps, possibly leading you question my knowledge or just think maybe niether one of us knows what we're talking about, which leaves you high and dry with your problem to fix and not sure who's advice to use or trust.

I hate it when people chime in and don't know what they're talking about.

Using this site to help others with thier D's and getting help and advise from others for my D I love.
And the only stupid question is the one that is never asked. Sharing knowledge and personal experiences with eachother makes all of us better people.

BTW the water pump install is kind of a bitch, so make ample time to do the job.

 

thanks for the heads up on the time it takes for the water pump..I told my wife she has to give up the D all day on Wednesday...new water pump, new power steering hoses, and if time permits...new shocks.