Pardon me if this has been answered elsewhere and please provide a link, if so.

Vehicle being serviced: 2003 1500, 5.9, 4x4

I'm replacing the water pump due to a leaking gasket. When I removed bolts at the 3 and 9 o'clock position (refer to photo, holes are marked with 100 mph tape), I noticed that coolant ran out. Upon removing the water pump itself, I could see coolant in the mounting holes. I took a wire and ran it into the holes, which seemed to go the length of the block, and when the wire was pulled back out, more fluid came with it. This was the case on both mounting holes.

The question. Is this normal for these holes to be that deep and contain coolant? I was deducing that possibly coolant had worked it's way into the two holes, but no other mounting holes had coolant in them so it seemed odd that only these two would.

Thanks in advance for any input.