I have replaced thermostat and the bypass hose and regasketed water pump which looks newish and have all new hoses but it still leaks and drips on the front part of engine where else could it come from? Anyone ever have this happen and it didn’t start slowly just one day coolant was going by the gallon and it does it with a cold engine off

 

Coolant leaks are not fun to find! I had one that took over a year to finally figure out: it was the bypass tube where it enters the water pump. Can you drive down a gravel road? The dust should help you see the wet trail.

 

Well I took apart everything I just put back together and put some dis water in and the top side of time cover was wet and some rtv was hanging out and I peeled it out and there was a tiny little fountain probably a mm tall coming from time cover gasket. But at least I don’t have to take water pump off for that just some of its bolts and pick up a gasket and at least I will be able to see how everything looks inside it. Previous owner must have poorly replaced gasket with rtv because it only has 120k on engine.

 

If you haven't replaced the timing chain and gears yet, now is a prefect opportunity...... The stock chains tend to get really stretched out after a 100K miles or so.

 

Oh yeah it had over 1/2 inch play so Im picking one up and the oil pan gasket came off with the timing cover so just maybe I can save it with lots of cleaning and rtv but I’m getting the gasket anyway so if not it’s easy for me to replace with 5 inch suspension and 3 inch body lift lots of room, and I got the heavy duty double roller timing set so it should last longer with my strict maintenance. I’m sure the engine will be happier with all new cooling components and new timing. I’ll get an extra hp 😉

 

Oil pan should be easy. You can sit upright under the truck.

 

Be sure to put sealant on any bolts that go into the cooling system in the block. Check your clearance on the timing chain and block. If it drags, you can clearance a little on the block. A small dremel or other small grinder will make the chain outlast the engine. I've found that Permatex makes a grey Thermostat housing sealer that works great and is more water resistant than the black RTV.