Thanks Hydra, Autozone has an online repair guide, I printed it out.

Truck is up and running and runs great, more power and idling smoother. The job is not that bad, I will be able to do it faster next time.

 

The job is easy. It's just the first time thats hard.......Kinda like breakin the virginity.....LOL

 

Found the coolant issue. Had to look up from underneath to spot it. Wet balancer and coolant coming out of the weap hole in the waterpump. Looks like loads of fun to change.

 

Well, you have two issues then. The water pump certainly didn't get that 'dry' coolant around the waterneck. Your stat and pump are both bad it seems.

Sucks. Sorry. Stat is easy to self fix (30 min fix, slowly, and when cleaning up the old gasket before reinstalling.) Waterpump... not easy. IIRC, $500 dealer fix. Keep us posted.

IndyDurango

 

Napa has the waterpump for around $48. Since I have to pull the serpentine belt to replace it anyways the waterpump looks to be a snap. 5-7 bolts and then take off the clutching fan once the waterpump is on the bench.

I really don't think the waterneck/tstat is bad. It was only wet once and hasn't been since I tightened the hose. She had a lot of work done on the cooling system and I think the mechanic didn't tighten the hose clamp afterwards. I'll see once I get the waterpump replaced. Probably won't be this weekend - have my own car to work on

 

Make sure you only install a BRAND NEW PUMP. No rebuilds here.