Today was a dry day so I was able to put the pressure tester on and believe I found the leak at the water pump. I can't determine if it is the pump itself or just a gasket. The leak is relatively small with me having to add fluid every 1-2 days.

Is a water pump or gasket hard to remove/replace? How much time are we talking about here? I'm also considering taking into a shop and having them do it since I will be very busy from now until mid January.

I'm thinking about putting a double roller timing chain in since I'll have better access to it at that point.

Thoughts?

 

I just replaced mine the other day and it took about 2-3 hours.
It just takes a bit to get everything outa the way.gotta remove the fan and shroud. then the belt and then the pump.I used a grinder with a wire brush attached to remove the old gasket ,material from the block and then put the new one in place.
Nothing hard about it at all (except when like me you dont know your own strength and break a bolt off while putting it back on). No big deal it backed right out and put a new one in.
My pump was leaking right on the front seal and sounded as if it had gravel rolling in it.If you remove your belt and can shake the pulley around it is time to replace.
Other leaking spots are the bypass hose atop the pump or around the heater pipe.

 

Thanks. I am getting a bit of a spray on the alternator which I'm guessing is from the leak under more pressure which makes me worry a bit about continuing to drive it until I have time to do the work myself.

As far as I can tell the pump itself is still working. Should I just try to replace the gasket or would it be better if I just change pump while I've got the original 83K mile one off?

 

change the water pump. the seal around the pulley shaft wears out every 50-100k miles. also change the small water pump bypass hose between pump and intake. its only about $5-10. also put in a new t-stat, get the $10 super-stant not the $5 cheapo. there's a diy at the top sticky threads. hardest part is usually getting the stupid fan off. if it doesn't come off, simply unbolt water pump and pull out wp, fan, and shroud all at once.

 

Should I wait until the end of January (when I have time) and change the pump myself (and put in a new double roller timing chain) or should I pay someone to change the pump ASAP? I'm not worried about having to add fluid, just worried about the spray in the engine bay, particular around the alternator.

Thanks.

 

provided you check your coolant level every day and keep it full, and DO NOT, EVER, let the truck overheat, you can wait awhile. coolant spray won't hurt the truck, but it is extremely toxic and will kill the hell out of a dog or cat.

if you have a chance to plan this, you can take care of water pump, timing chain, front seal, hoses, plenum gasket, tune up, etc all at once.

 

But what if we don't want our pets to be evil? Should we just give them a little antifreeze?


I hear dogs like it cause it tastes sweet, didn't taste sweet when I tried it...

 

AIM, were we having suicidal thoughts?

 

Antifreeze does in fact taste sweet. I beleive it is due to the glycols.
Anyway My water pump was also spraying water on the alternator along with everything else in there.I changed mine immediatlycause I didnt want it to fail while I was on the road.I did not replace the bypass hose or the tstat when I changed mine just because you gotta take the ac compressor and the braket its on off to get to them.

 

Thanks for all of the info. I think I'm going to give a shot at changing the pump myself. In the meantime I get to buy a present for my truck, a new timing chain! Merry Christmas!