OK so I changed the thermostat and I thought it was fine, took it for a run, over heated. The only time the temp came down was when I hit to to 5000rpm. I was like ugg! I barely made it home.

I let it cool down and took the thermostat out and of course, stripped the thread, so I drilled and tapped with helicoil. Put the housing back on with no thermostat and started her up.

I flushed the engine out with water, I havent put any engine flush in yet, I was going to do that but I wanted to make sure it wasnt mechanical before I wasted my time. Theres no point if its not circulating.

I left the cap off so I could see if the water was circulating..... and..... its not. Went back in the back and the temp is above 220F I gun the engine and it immediately drops the temp for a min then start heading to the hot zone again.

Do I have a bad water pump?
Do I have something blocked somewhere?

/fustrated!!

 

The impeller in the water pump could be messed up. I would say to try some radiator flush, but if it is not flowing...there will be no flushing.

Or you could have a rat stuck in your hose.

Replace the water pump, and send some radiator flush through there. Napa brand radiator flush and descaler worked great for me. I have a 180* stat and it does not get over 180* here min arkansas with 110* weather. I did a 60/40 water/antifreeze mix though. I will havem to change that to 50/50 for the winter though, but that is fun maintenance. Especially when you bought more antifreeze than you needed the first time :P

 

Ugg! OK. Time to get a water pump.

The Magnum engine uses a reverse water pump correct?

OK Autozone has them for $45 including the gasket.

Edit:

OK Picked up the pump and some tool to get the fan off lol.

 

The small hose for the bypass is a pain to remove, even with the bracket for the alternator and the a/c out of the way. (Just did my water pump last week.) Only other advice I can offer is don't misplace that little o-ring that comes with the pump. I wasted a good 20 minutes looking for it.

Have fun. Your truck's looking good.

 

OK, water pump has been replaced, wasnt too bad at all.





The test run

 

congrats. THat impeller has seen better days!!!

 

mine has a thermostat that with it hit over 250 it reduces the power or shut the truck off and won't start till it cools to keep fromblowing a head gasket in florida summers i run 90/10 90 antifreeze and 10 water helps

 

Ok, someone has fed you a load of BS. Let me explain:

1. There is no thermostat that turns your truck off when it goes over 250. All a thermostat does is open and close and allow water to exit the engine and go into the radiator. There is no electrical connection on a thermostat.

2. 90% antifreeze and 10% water will make you overheat. Water dissapates heat better than antifreeze. I run 60% water and 40% antifreeze in Arkansas. It was 110 here a few days ago. My truck stays at 180 with the AC on.


So, if I were you, I would change your coolant out and add more water.

 

wish mine had only been a water pump! Getting freeze plugs changed as we speak