Took my 96 1500 5.9L 3602wd 208,000 mile been_loyal_to_me_Ramto the shop this morning to have the w.p., gasket, upper and lower rad hoses, coolant return line oring and bypass hose R&R'd......

Ihad brought it in initially b/c I sawcoolant dripping and pooling on the ground after shutting my truck down after the drive home from work yesterday....crawled under w/a flashlight and it appeared to be coming from the weep hole.

Shop calls me late today and says the wp has been replaced but upon startup it is leaking coolant still....

They diagnose it now as coolant leaking from the TIMING CHAIN COVER and they want to replace the timing chain cover gasket.Does coolant get anywhere near there? I say no. Can someone with diy experience on this motor tell me if this is possible....coolant leaking from the timing chain cover??

should have just sucked it up and followed Steves onlineinstructions....ugh....

thank you,
Chris

 

yes, the timing cover bolts to the front of the engine, and then the water pump bolts directly onto the timing cover (bad) instead of straddling it (good).
at 200k, your mechanic should recommend replacing timing chain, gears, and seal. its a good idea.

here's a pic. you'll see the holes into the block at the top of timing cover.







here's the whole thread.
https://dodgeforum.com/m_735291/tm.htm

 

Q. does the coolant really flow through the timing cover.

yes, the coolant flows through the timing cover. the timing cover has 2 sections - it has the cavity where the timing chain/gears are, and this is bathed in oil. it also has 2 ports that act as water pipes between the water pump and the block.

take a look at the 2 pics. the first one shows the timing cover, with the water pump removed. the wp sits in that yellow/green cavity and pushes water back through the 2 ports (pipes) into the front of the block. the timing cover is the big aluminum colored chunk of metal thats in front of the yellow dishtowel. you can the see the yellow/green stained cavity where the wp bolts up. the ports/pipes are at the end of the yellow/green stained swirls of the wp shape.

now look at the second pic. this is the front of the engine with the timing cover removed. you see the gears in the big center section. they are bathed in oil. see the block's water inlets at the extreme top left and right. thats where the coolant comes THROUGH the timing cover to get into the block.

now, note that some of the water pump bolts are short, and bolt the wp to the timing cover. you can't see it, but there are also some short bolts that bolt the timing cover to the block. now there are 4 long bolts that go into the block at the water inlets. these go all the way through the water pump AND all the way through the timing cover and into the water inlets. these must be sealed with gasket sealer or else they will leak around the threads.

now here's what probably happened. you had a worn out water pump that was leaking around the seal. your mechanic removed it and put on a new one. he likely had to smack the water pump to get it loose from the timing cover. when the long bolts were removed, it removes the support around the water inlets. the old dried out gasket cracked, and now it leaks. i don't think he did anything wrong, its just a consequence of the way its designed.

there is a remote possibility that your leak is coming around the threads of the long bolts if your mechanic didn't seal the threads. thats unlikely, but you might ask.

either way, if your timing chain/gears are older than 100k miles, you should go ahead and have it and the front seal replaced. the chain set is only about $50 and the seal is about $5-10. your mechanic is going to have to remove the timing cover anyway to fix the leak.

 

D, thank you very, VERY much for your explanation....so helpful.

Your description and images make this crystal clear now.

Have a great weekend, and again, thank you,
Chris

 

since were kinda on the topic, how do you remove and reinstall the timing gears. Im pritty sure mine have never been changed.

 

here's one.... http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/timingchain.php

here's mine...
to replace the timing chain and sprockets (gears) you will have to strip off the top and front of the motor to expose everything. you'll need a harmonic balance puller, 1 1/4 inch socket, and and air gun. you can probably borrow/rent the puller for free from whereever you buy your parts, or you can buy one for $10-20. you'll need new timing chain set which includes both sprockets and chain and gasket ($50), and front crank seal ($5-10) which might/might not come with the set. if your oil pan gasket is leaking, replace it too. if you don't replace the oil pan gasket, be very very careful with the timing cover removal, and/or maybe rtv the heck out of where they meet.

i like to go ahead and remove the plugs, so you can turn the engine with ease.
remove the big bolt on the end of the crank that holds on the harmonic balancer. 1 1/4 in. very tight, torqued at about 130-150 or so. you'll need air gun to hit it hard or the engine will just spin.
position the puller onto the balancer. the puller bolts to the inner section of the balancer. the pulling rod goes against the end of the crank. PLACE washers on the end of the crank to PROTECT THE THREADS or else very bad things can happen. get everything positioned properly and begin to remove the balancer. you might get it off with hand tools but its easier to hit it with the air gun.
DO NOT PULL OR PRY ON THE OUTSIDE PORTION OF THE BALANCER.
remove the few bolts on the front of the timing cover, and the front 2 from the oil pan. probably have to smack the cover with a rubber hammer to get if loose.
if not removing oil pan, cover the area in front to keep debris out.

take timing cover to over to the bench and tap out the front seal. put in new one and oil it.
spray timing spockets with a shot of brake cleaner, then locate and mark the timing marks with a dab of orange rtv. put the crank bolt back in with several washers and snug, then rotate engine till the timing marks align. there is only one proper alignment for the stock parts, see pic above, and everything is keyed. watch out... it is possible to buy aftermarket sets with standard, and 4* advanced key slots.
inspect everything, note amount of slack. take some pics. unbolt cam sprocket and slide off both sprockets and chain off as a set.

clean all gasket surfaces with a putty knife. avoid getting any debris in oil pan.
inspect your old sprockets. some years had a nylon coating on the teeth to reduce noise, and the nylon cracked and broke off, contributing to slack.

mark your new sprocket's timing marks with a dab of rtv. place sprockets inside the chain in an aligned position, and slide them on as a set. its a tight fit, so be patient. again, be watchful for those with 4* advanced key options.
seat the spockets all the way on. give em a little tap with a punch.
spin the motor a couple of times and make sure you have the proper alignment and nothing is binding.
bolt on cam sprocket and torque. i used locktight on threads.
remove the rtv used on the timing marks.
bolt on timing cover and torque. i used a very light coat of rtv on both sides. if any threads go into the water jacket, use rtv or threadlock/sealer. i put a pretty generous amount of rtv where the timing cover meets the oil pan.
inspect the fat piece of the harmonic balancer where the seal rides. make sure its not deeply grooved, which will leak, and need replacement (unlikely). oil this section liberally to protect the seal and slide the balancer onto the crankshaft. it is keyed. mine was tight, so i used the big bolt to pull it on. just make sure you got plenty of threads before you hit it with the air gun. torque the crap out of the crank bolt.
you're done with this. put the rest of the motor back together.