I have a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 4.7L V8 and have had the water pump go out and need replacement either 4 or 5 times now. (If I recall correctly, the first 2 times were under the extended warranty I got from CarMax. The other 2 or 3 have been out of pocket - ouch!) I've got a little over 130k miles on it, and I'm wondering if the pump is going out again? I can hear a squeaking that I think may be the water pump bearing (though I can't be sure that's the source)... The engine temp gauge looks good, but yesterday, the outside temp sensor was reading 130 degrees, when it was maybe 85 degrees outside. (Coolant level is good.)

One other possibly informative bit is that about a month ago, I drove about 4 miles, parked for 2-3 hours, and when I returned to my truck, whatever compressed gas is used in the air conditioner was escaping at a high rate (like a spray paint can spraying)... at the time, I thought it was strange, but just some freak bursting of a seal or hose somewhere... now I'm wondering if something under the hood was overheating and caused a pressure build-up that lead to the a/c failure/leak...?

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has any insight in to what might be the actual cause of my water pumps going out so frequently? (The replacements have all been OEM parts.)

Thanks in advance!

 

Never had a non-Mopar water pump last more'n 3000 miles in a 4.7 or Hemi. For some reason the black gaskets on the 3rd party ones give a sh*t seal and lead to failure. The Mopar is a blue gasket and seals perfectly, check the gasket color.

I'm rebuilding the 4.7 in my Grand Cherokee right now and EVERY component (timing set, pistons, etc.) are 3rd party except the water pump, where I'm spending the extra for a Mopar and I won't have to replace it for 100k miles...

 

Thanks for the info - wish I had asked a few pumps ago! Roughly how much more will the Mopar pump/gasket run me?

As an aside, the outside temperature gauge seems to have just gone bad - it's now constantly reading 130 degrees. I'll have to see if the thermocouple or whatever sensor they used has either come loose, or just broken.

 

The one I just bought was $99.95 for the 3.7/4.7 engines. By contrast, the rebuild kit I bought was made by DJN (Rock Auto) and their water pump was $42.99. Gasket comes with both...

 

Great - thanks for all the info!