Hello all, my 99 Dodge 1500 made it through another Texas summer but it looks like I'm going to need another water pump. Which is fine since I was going to replace the timing chain anyway (210,000 miles). But what bothers me is that this will be either the third (or maybe fourth) water pump I've put on this truck.

I usually go with NAPA / Echlin parts when I can, but in this case I am wondering if there is a preferred performance / severe duty water pump. Everything I see leads me to believe that there aren't any for the Magnums, and the one that NAPA suggests to fit my vehicle doesn't have a heater port.

Does anyone know of any performance (i.e., high volume) water pumps for these engines? I would appreciate any leads, thanks!

 

You could could convert to an electric fan setup. This removing your crank driven 30lb fan. That's about all I know

 

Go to a different auto parts store and get a different brand. I changed mine out a while back with one from probably O'Reillys and it has the heater port. How often do you actually need the heater on anyways, about three days out of the year? Could just dress warmer.
Don't know of a high volume, but you shouldn't need one anyways even in the triple digit days of summer if the the rest of your cooling system is up to snuff.

 

Flow Kooler makes a high flow water pump for our engines.
http://www.flowkoolerwaterpumps.com/...duct_info.html

Check out Summint/Jegs/Ebay for a better price. I got mine off of Ebay I think when I bought it.

 

x2. Do the pumps your getting have any kind of warranty? The one i got did, but can't remember how long and it probably wasn't much. Also, i don't know if they do this with water pumps, but you might be getting a reman pump instead of a brand new one. You shouldn't be going through them that fast.

 

I'm having the same problem with my truck. It's 12 years old now and I've had five water pumps put on it. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the anti-freeze that I'm using. The reason why I ask is, I just bought a 2005 Jeep grand Cherokee for my son. It had high miles, but I've done a lot of work to it to restore it. One of the things I had to do was change the water pump out. And everybody on the jeep forums were very adamant about using the proper antifreeze in the Jeep vehicles. They were having problems with the regular antifreeze eating away the water pump itself. Because the propellers on the water pumps are made of plastic. The water pump that I put on the vehicle was from rock auto and had metal propeller blades. But I did use the proper antifreeze in the vehicle. I'm just curious if the green antifreeze could have anything to do with it ruining the water pumps on these vehicles as well as the heater core in them.

 

I see more problems with the orange stuff, and even more with folks that mix the orange and green. Orange has different lubrication properties, and the older motors don't care for it overmuch.

 

I wound up buying the FlowKooler 1790 water pump in the name of overkill. But right now I'm focusing on using a "water pump approved" gasket sealant in the event that I skipped that step in the past. I have heard that ethylene glycol may react with RTV sealants in a way that can hurt the seal.

Additionally, I dropped in a 3-row Cummins radiator into the front with a diesel shroud and electric fan setup. With the way that our Texas winter is going I may not have to wait until next year to report on the effectiveness of this setup!

 

I have always used RTV, either red, or black, and never had a problem. Just use a THIN coat.

 

I just always use the gaskets and have never had leaks. I know a lot of folks like RTV but I am old school and will use the gasket whenever possible.