Water pump has been leaking, at least I think it is. I think it is the seal where the pump attaches. Anyway, it has gotten a fair amount worse lately. I am going to try and do it this weekend or next depending on if I can pick up the parts. Figure I might as well do all the hoses too.

The water pump seems simple enough, I figured since I have the front all torn apart I might as well do the timing chain (130k on original). Never done a timing chain before, will I need any special tools? Anything I should know? The manual seems to make it sound like an easy job.

Thanks for any help, or tips.

 

Hey let me know how the timing chain job goes.....if not too bad I may do mine while replacing the water pump...107000 miles on mine...thanks

 

It is an easy job.
After you remove the chain, don't turn the cam or the crank at all or it'll screw up the timing.

The two front bolts in the oil pan need to come out to get the timing cover off.

You need a 3 jaw puller to get the cam sprocket off easily and to keep you from turning it in the process.

You need the duck foot puller to get the harmonic balancer off.

You want to thread that puller into the balancer, if you use a 3 jaw puller and pull on the outside of the balancer then you will ruin it.
I had to grab a spare washer out of the shed to sit over the hole that the crank bolt goes into because the pointed accessory in the harmonic balancer puller kit was small enough to damage the threads on the end of the crank.

Some people say that you need to use the sleeve and seal kit for the harmonic balancer because the new crank seal might leak if you don't.
I have on but I didn't use it and my front seal hasn't leaked a drop of oil since changing the chain.
If you don't use the sleeve then just look at the bottom of the balancer every now and then to see if there is oil leaking out of where it goes into the timing cover. If it does start leaking then you'll just have to pull the balancer back off, slip the sleeve on it and put it back on.

You will want to do an oil change after you get done with the water pump because it is likely that some coolant will get into the oil pan.

 

if your plenum hasn't been fixed with an aluminum hughes plate, you might want to do that at the same time, since you have to strip all the same stuff off the engine for both jobs.

as sheriff said, you need a harmonic balance puller. you can rent/borrow one from most parts stores. thread the big crank bolt back in the end of the crank to protect the oh-so-precious threads. i almost ****ed up that step.

you'll want an impact wrench to remove the crank bolt. if you don't have one, you'll need to rig up a way to lock the engine from turning by holding the flywheel or front pulley. impact is so much easier, zip its off, zip its back on.

fan clutch is a bitch to remove. you need a strap wrench or some other way to hold it while you smack the big wrench with a hammer to break it loose. its not real real tight, its just hard to hold the stupid fan. i ended up unbolting my water pump with fan still attached and lifted out wp, fan, shroud all at once.

you don't need the front crank sleeve. just a new seal that comes in the timing cover gasket kit.

clean your old crank and find the dots, not the lines. search sheriff's posts for a really good pic. rotate engine so your crank dot is up and your cam dot is down. remove timing sprockets with chain all as one set, do NOT rotate engine while chain is off, reinstall the new ones in the same lineup. they are keyed and can only go one way. ignore everyone that says rotate engine to #1 tdc, blah, blah. just line up the dots.

as soon as the fan is removed, pull your tools up to the front of the truck and climb over into the engine bay and stand in front of the engine. much easier. also - very important - label all your bolts and nuts. every wire. each end of every hose, etc. there's some good write up's on here and other sites. search them out and read them. its good info.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ater-pump.html


edit - if you do the plenum replace dist cap, rotor, wires while you have the motor stripped down.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I do need to do the plenum but I am worried about the time involved. I just don't know if I could get this all done in a weekend. Maybe I should just milk things along until I can have an extra few days. I wish it wasn't so cold in the winter cause I have the whole week of thanksgiving off and could do it then Maybe I need to buy a big garage heater and get it done then. Decisions decisions.

 

you could get plenum, water pump, and chain done in a day, probably about 6-7 hours to do...fairly simple.....and your leak is most likely the timing cover gasket...common problem...

 

If you don't have a big impact then you can have someone hold a pry bar in the fly wheel while you turn the crank bolt, that's what I did.

If you are going to go that route and take the starter and inspection cover off the transmission then that would be a good time to replace the rear main seal if it is leaking since you'll be halfway to it.


I went looking for a spanner wrench the other day when I was in town to hold my water pump still so I could crack the fan clutch loose and had no luck. The last place I checked was lowes and when I found out that they didn't have one either, I went over to their misc. metal rack and grabbed the first piece that I thought would make a good wrench handle.

I went home and this is what I came up with


If you have a welder then you should make a tool similar to the one I made to hold the water pump pulley still, it makes it very easy to pop the fan clutch off.

 

You really think a first timer could do all that in 6-7 hours? I have read several post indicating twice that is the norm. I am no mechanic but do know my way around a wrench. I don't have much engine experience and I am a little intimidated. Done plenty of lifts, brakes, alternators, starters, t-case, pulled trannies.

If it really isn't that bad maybe I will shoot for a weekend when I have a Friday or Monday off just to give me a safety net.

Would really like to get the plenum done so I can get an sct to get rid of the death flash.

 

First timer will need to set aside 2 days and an extra vehicle for a parts run if you are doing the plenum and WP and TC. Something will always go wrong.

 

for water pump, timing chain, plenum, tune up, plus whatever... 2 days is optimistic, maybe 3 or 4, and yes you need an extra vehicle to make 12 trips to the parts store for tools you don't have and parts you forgot to get. driving around town looking for parts eats up a lot of time.

i've got a small electric heater in the garage that takes the chill off in winter.
you might get by until thanksgiving if you keep the radiator topped off every day or two.