So last month my 01 Ram 318 started to make this horrable screeching noise. I checked it out and ended up replacing the idler puller and complete tensioner pully. It got rid of the screech, but it would "churp" here and there. I looked at it again and found that the fan pully on the front of the water pump was a lil loose and wabbly. I drove it like that till last week. Then last week when I drove it and got back home there was coolent dripping. I checked it out and it looked like the top radiator hose was leaking and coolent was falling from there all the way down to the ground. I replaced the hose and was good....for one day. The next day I got to school which is only 6 miles down the road. I had the heat on low for the windows. I got to school and my "check gauges" light came on. I lost battery power and the temp gauge was up. I opened the hood and smoke came out and there was collent every where and dripping like crazy, the truck was crying. I babied it home after school and had my mechanic neighbor look at it. Worst case happened...water pump bearing failed. Thats were the wobble came from. With that the water pump fan was scraping the water pump inside. The coolent went behind the fan, thru the bearing and spilled out on to the ground. So $100 in parts and 3hrs later a new water pump is on. Its been fine these last couple days but I haven't been using the heat. Yesterday and today I had the heat on medium for the windows and it's dripping again. My overflow tank went from "full" level to half way past "add" just in these last two days. The driver side is dry but the on the passenger side I can see coolent on the top of the bottom radiator hose....then it would drip down that and is all over my steering and suspension components. What can the problem be now!!! It is driving me crazy and I drive the truck everyday and don't want coolent leaking. Anybody else ever have this problem???

 

New hoses?

Are you sure that the problem this time isn't the timing cover? Mine will leak if I let it sit for about 2 weeks.

 

So...you're bottom rad hose is leaking? Or? Using band clamps (aka worm gear clamps) on rad hoses help resist leakages. Other leak spots could be intake gasket, tstat gasket, timing cover gasket, water pump weep hole or gasket. You put the right water pump mounting bolts in the correct holes right?

If you're water pump fails, it can also take out your fan clutch. So when you replace just the water pump, your fan can still be bad and wreck the next water pump.

 

Check all of the above and did you replace the water pump bypass hose going to the intake?

 

This makes me think that air was trapped in the heater core, and probably the lines too. I would suggest you remove the radiator cap (when it's COLD), and top off with coolant. Next, add coolant to the expansion tank until it is at the proper "cool" level.

That's typically normal after coolant is drained and refilled; the coolant is filling air pockets. When you initially refilled the system, did you idle the truck after the radiator and expansion tank was full-- with the heater wide open?

Here's an idea, idle the truck to temperature with the hood open, so you can actually see where (and if) it's leaking. Also, double-check that your radiator cap is on correctly.

 

Everything up top is dry...intake gasket, thermostat housing gasket. I looked again and the timing cover seal is dry. I am going to put on worm clamps on both hoses and get rid of the clamps that were on it to see if that does anything. I did replace the bypass hose when I did the plenum and it is still in good condition. Yes i did idle the truck with the heat on full blast for about 5min when it was all done. I checked the radiator cap and its good.

 

Today I went back and forth between Royalton and Brecksville and did some highway driving. I didn't have the heat on the whole time, only a couple mins on medium here and there for the windows. During my running around i checked for leaks about 5 times...it was all dry. So since it's only happening when the heat is on high and or for a period of time...could it be a heater hose or the heater core under the dash? Becuase the day it completly spilled out and and was crying, when I started it that afternoon to go home I herd a gulping noise under the dash that I've never herd before.

 

Heater core is constant flow. Doesn't matter if you have the heat on or not. It is always circulating coolant.

Check the passenger floorboard though, and see if it's wet.

Mine like to leak from the bypass hose.... dripped on top of the timing cover, and boiled dry almost immediately..... it had to start leaking REAL bad before it became obvious.

 

Humm ok I'll check the floorboard tomorrow.

 

Sis you replace thermostat while you were doing the pump? (should have....) And burping the system is necessary also. Air could be trapped.