so the other day my '96 ram 5.2 litre overheats a little,got it home with no damage just a bit of steam coming from under the hood.let it sit for a bit then checked the anti freeze which was 2 gallons low.filled it back up started the truck and let it warm up to find the leak.figured it must be the water pump although its only 4 years old.for the life of me i cant find the leak,drove it 100 km over the weekend and the level is still up.added some "bars leak" to it before the road trip which i should of held off on.while driving the truck i notice the temp gauge goes up over 95 then back below 95.in the past there was never any fluctuation.i checked the pump shaft for play it has none.only sound i hear at idle is a slight squeek which i assume is the belt unless its the bearings going in the pump.also at idle i can smell anti-freeze but damned if i know where its coming from.any of you guys have a similar experience?dont want to start throwing parts at it untill i know for sure whats happening.

cheers.

 

I have seen that others have had a similar issue with a coolant leak they could not see. As I was doing other work on mine, I see that it also had a leak at one time at the tsat. Of course it is a pita to get to without removing the alternator and air conditioner compressor, you might want to get a flashlight and look at the thermostat housing.

 

BIG mistake abusing your innocent block with that crap.

I had a mystery leak recently which turned out to be the hot side heater hose, right on the manifold nipple, and impossible to see without removing parts. Apparently someone scarred the hose in the past and it finally got old enough to leak. I'm glad I went all the way in intending to replace the whole shebang anyway because when I pulled the water pump most of the bypass hose came with it. Surprises like that are best found in your warm garage!

If I were in your shoes I'd buy a new water pump/gasket, timing cover gasket set, upper, lower, and bypass hoses, heater hoses, thermostat/gasket, and some hose clamps from a parts store that'll gladly take back any parts that remain unused, and just dive on in. I'd start by removing the AC compressor, alternator, and accessory bracket to get a good view of the bits underneath -- you might get lucky and find a cheap fix. (Myself, I replaced everything except the timing cover gasket just because I really hate ugly surprises.)

Oh, and don't forget extra blades for the gasket scraper. My extras are in storage 600 miles away...

 

thanks guys,had another look at it tonight and i still cant see it.coolant level is dead nutz on.my parents need to use it tomorrow to do some running around town so i can check level again when they drop it off.would really like to make it through the winter without dropping a pile of parts on it.gonna stop and grap a new thermostat and gasket tomorrow after work,can eliminate one possibility at a time.

 

just monitor it until you can identify the leak. it could be anywhere - water pump, hose, head/intake, freeze plug in block or head, radiator.

a good check is to run it up to normal temp, then shut it off and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. it'll get hotter as it sits there and build more pressure. this might be the only time it leaks. also, assuming its a minor leak onto a hot surface, it may evaporate rather than drip. so you want to be looking for stain in addition to a puddle.

 

tried that to dh,i even plugged the rad off with cardboard to make it run hot.

 

Radiator pressure tester? Pressurize even cold, and able to measure how fast it leaks down.

 

Mine ended up coming from the timing cover gasket behind the water pump

 

Add some UV dye to the system and start looking around with a black light.

 

roll her in flour and look for ...
no wait, that was something else. never mind.