Do I need a new water pump? Temp is showing just fine when I drive, no dripping but I am seeing this and there is a slight 'clacking' noise, bearings going out maybe?

 

Pretty crusty in there. Clean it off good, drive it for a couple days, recheck. See what ya got.

 

Get a pressure tester from any auto parts store. Loan-a-tool program. If it seeps out the weep hole, YES.

 

Thanks for the replies, I'll clean it off and find a pressure tester.

 

While I understand this is immediately behind the pulley, the Magnums love to leak coolant at the timing cover where the water passages are, left and right side of the water pump. Lots of seemingly mystery seepage comes from here, and IME it won't necessarily show with a pressure tester

Look closely here and if you wind up replacing the water pump now is the time to do the timing cover gasket if it's suspect

 

If it's more than 5 years or 100k old it needs replacement anyway.

 

Thanks for the tip about the timing cover, I'll replace the gasket same time as the pump. Probably best to replace the thermostat as well.

 

And I know this seems never-ending but once the cover is off you're staring the timing chain in the face, and it's almost zero additional work and a double roller is cheap, like $30

Again, I'd only touch the timing cover if you can confirm leakage. It'll be visible if so. Otherwise, maybe just do the water pump and move on.

If you do the t-stat, you might just order a new housing. They're also cheap and yours may be surprisingly rusty. Or you can wait and see how yours is once in-hand