Well I took the bolt out, less coolant came out than I expected. I put teflon tape on the threads and drove to town and back (12 miles total). Bolt is dry so far. Keep yo fingas crossed, Dodge Brethren, and say a prayer to the teflon gods for me. I don't mind doing most any kind of work on my truck, but I absolutely hate having to do something twice because I'm kind of **** about trying to do it right the first time. Don't wanna do the pump or tc gasket again. We will see.

 

Bolt is still dry after driving again today, guess the teflon tape sealed it off. Shouldve put it on the 4 bottom bolts in the first place, didn't really think about it.

 

Hope it holds up! Good luck!

 

yeah, thanks. so far, so good. It was a really small seep. Like most people who don't slide around on a creeper underneath thier truck every once in a while looking for crap wouldn't even notice it. Skipped the silicone since I could never get the bolt hole clean/dry and just used the teflon tape. Thanks for the replies.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I have a similar problem with my 2002 Ram 1500 5.9L 4x4 with 180K miles. I replaced the water pump and there is a small leak around the bottom bolt on the driver's side. I removed the bolt and lots of antifreeze/water streamed out. I removed the water pump and cleaned everything up and pulled the antifreeze/water out of both bottom bolt holes that mount to the block. From this thread and one of the first responses, it seems that the timing chain cover gasket it damaged. The o-ring on the water pump outlet looked ok and was not leaking from there. Could the antifreeze/water come from somewhere else, or is it most likely the timing chain cover seal? Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Probably that bolt hole goes into the water jacket. Put some sealer on the threads, and it should be cool. Can you post a pic of that particular bolt, just to verify?

 

I removed the water pump. I don't have a picture of it, so I grabbed a picture from the internet and circled the bolt with the drip. The other lower bolt going into the water jacket had water pouring out too when I removed it. The timing chain cover gasket does not look difficult to replace and since I don't know much about the history of the truck it might be a good chance to inspect the chain and replace if necessary. I already replaced the intake gasket plate with the Hughes Engine aluminum plate as well as new distributor cap and rotor, fuel injectors, wires, plugs, and fan clutch. The truck is for my daughter to drive, so I'd like to make certain all is fine with it. Would it hurt to use Teflon tape on the end of the bolt going into the water jacket when I reassemble?


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You can use teflon tape, but I use thread sealer. That is a waste jacket bolt if I recall correctly. How many miles on the engine? If it's over 100K miles you should do the timing chain

 

Yep, that one goes into the water jacket. Sealer on the bolt, and you are golden.

I agree with the Fanatic though, if you are over 100K miles, there are six more bolts to get the timing cover off, and the chain and gears are right there. It is never going to be any easier than it is right now.

 

Thanks both "HeyYou" and "MoparFantastic21". The truck has 180k on the engine. Since I'm going to replace the timing chain cover, the chain and gears make sense too.