I just brought the truck into local dodge dealercause of a slight antifreeze smell under the hood. They told me it was a gasket on the timing chain cover. It would be tough to get at and would mean replacing the water pump and timing chain as long as they were in there. The whole job should be around 6 to 7 hundered. Does that sound right to anyone.??? The leak is pretty small cause the antifreeze doesn't even go down. The truck has 150k miles on it.

 

my truck had a slight leak around that area --but it turned out to be
the thermostat housing leaking--the gasket just detiorated away and started
a small leak. it was an easy fix and a good excuse to change the coolant and
new thermostat.
maybe have another look at it 1st-- could be as simple as mine was
g/l

 

agreed... I havent heard too many complaints of the timing cover having a leak...the t-stat WILL leak however and is an easy fix. use a mopar gasket when swapping it out and you dont need any sealant, put it on dry and torque it down. sealant is in the gasket... thank you DC...(one of the few non-sarcastic thankyou's... )

 

correct me if i am wrong, but doesn't the timing chain cover hold in oil only (not coolant). then the water pump sits on the front of the block and sort of straddles it. at 150k miles, if your water pump has never been changed, then my guess, w/o having a chance to look at it, is the seal around the water pump has worn out, which is normal. i recommend you get a second opinion.

 

Thanks guys. I will take it in somewhere else and see what they sayor try and get a look at it my self.