that sucks dude! I'm not even sure If it is a bad water pump or not. I think I'm just a dummy and over pressured the system and coolnt related from the weep hole. BUT I could be wrong. It may be messed up. I think I'm going to change it anyways because I have to take it off anyways because I want to do the timing cover seal to fix up a leak. But on another note I changed the thermostat and gained 40°F heat coming out of the vents that I had before! Now the vents are reading at 170°F do you think that's pretty good or should they be getting hotter? Hopefully it can stay this warm once winter comes.

 

Sounds like your old thermostat was faulty and likely stuck open a bit. 170 degrees of warm air should likely be good for the winter. As for your water pump, sounds like the seal in the pump has gone bad. The pressure test had nothing to do with it, as it should withstand greater pressure than 1 PSI over the water pressure limit.

 

gotcha it may of been 2 psi max past its hard to say the gauge wasn't very detailed but ya your correct. It's crazy only have 50xxx on that water pump. Truck is not a daily so prob gets driven 2 or 3 times a month maybe all that sitting did a number on it ?

 

i would say 170*F would be acceptable temps to be getting out of the heater vents. should definitely get the cab warm.
i drove my 81 20km with no coolant in it. bottom rad hose came off. i was only 30 minutes late for work that morning. the truck got hot but put water to it and topped it up and drove to work. checked the plugs and compression later and it was fine. it is a tough truck. it has leaked coolant on and off for the 12 or so years that i have owned it.

 

I had a water pump blow a hole threw the aluminum housing! Of course i was a long way from home so was able to make it to a wal mart where i bought about ten gallons of water. The road home was straight with no lights so filled it and went as far as i could until the gauge started to rise, Pulled over and waited until it cooled enough to fill it again and repeat. The ten gallons didn't last but was lucky to find a business that had a hose around back. Filled my gallons and was able to make it home. This past fall/winter i had a slow leak that i thought was the upper radiator hose or the water neck. Got all the stuff i needed and replaced it. As the truck was sitting in the drive way i see the leak wasn't fixed. Well i it had to wait until i had time to do it and by then it was cold out. It got to the point i had to put a bucket underneath the truck over night to collect the leaking antifreeze. The next morning fill the radiator with the bucket top it off and go to work and repeat. I couldn't deal with it anymore so brought my truck into work and changed the water pump(again, I had more water pumps on this truck then all my other vehicles combined). So if you see something that could be a problem in the near future(winter) fix it before it becomes a major PITA.

 

I've put vehicles back on the road and often the water pump will fail. The bearing seal can catch then rip a little when it gets spun. 170 out of the vents is great. Unless you're cold sensitive, it should do fine.

 

Wow what a story lol. Yes you are correct I am going to tackle this water pump for piece of mind. I hope the 170 TEMP stays that once is below zero here. While I'm doing the water pump I'm going to try to do the timing cover seal and crank seal as I have a oil leak there that has been bugging me

 

Do the timing chain and gears as well, you are going to be RIGHT THERE.

 

is that a normal temp for these trucks? I hope it stays that way come below zero in December. Maybe once i do the water pump it will help a little more as my temp gauge sits just over the middle

 

They were done when the motor was re built 50xxx ago with a cloyes set. So it better be good still