About a couple of days ago my heater stoped working on my dodge ram 1500 5.2l 4x4. i figured it was more and likely a clogged heater core and said ill just worry about it when i get a break from school. Well i drove it with no heater for about two days no problems. Yesterday on the other hand i was driving down my road trying to get into town to head to school ( takes me about a hr 15 to get to school roughly 65 miles 6 days a week)
and my truck just died and my steering wheel locked up.

So i started it back up thing maybe the engine was still to cold. I have no problems for about 15 min then my check guages light comes on and all my gauges drop to zero. So i pull over thinking well heck theres a serious problem and the guages go back to normal. so decide to drive it to the store a couple 100 ft and pop the hood. as i start to reach the store my temp gauge shoots up really high and i let of of the gas and it dies again as i pull in.

I pop the hood and notice that my gasket for my water pump is completly ruined and it was leaking coolant from the side. i fill it up with water and drive it back to my friends house to work on it. as i go to my friends about 15 min away i have no problems and i get up to 70mph without any trouble. i went to school and he said it was dry again and i needed a new gasket so i go buy one and put it on and it start leaking from the back. so i think my water pumps bad so i have it ready to put on. i havent replaced it yet but my dad cussed me out last night saying i probably cracked the block. is this what it sounds like or does it sound more like the waterpump? i just need to know if i need to tear it down by any chance cause im hitching rides to get to college because i have no truck so i need it in comission asap. Any help appreciated?

 

I think you have more than one issue going on there. They may or may not be related. Definitely need to fix the cooling system first though...... lack of heat in your case I would bet would be because of low coolant...... that will also cause the engine to overheat.

As for dying while driving.... the gauges all going to zero would point to the ASD relay, or, and ASD related event. Swap the ASD relay with the wiper relay, and see if that doesn't solve the problem. If it does, buy a new relay.

 

I think you need to replace the timing cover gasket as well. That's where it's leaking, not a cracked block.

 

Yeah, I would agree with that assessment.... removing the water pump disturbs that gasket..... and the coolant tends to erode the aluminum housing in any event......

 

I forgot to mention the by pass hose as well.