2008 Ram 1500, 4.7L, Auto, 2WD.

Tonight on the way home, I noticed the truck was idling rough at stoplights. Later, I noticed the volt gauge was going up and down. Shortly after I heard the serpentine belt squeaking a little bit. So I figured the belt was slipping, and that's why the voltage was going up and down. About 15 minutes later, the voltage dropped, and a "check gauges" light came on. Then the belt started squealing loudly, and steam started to come from the hood. I pulled into an auto parts store, and popped the hood.

Pretty much the entire engine bay was covered in coolant, and dripping from everywhere. I couldn't really tell where it was leaking, because it was dripping everywhere. So I let it cool for a little bit, bought a gallon of coolant (it took the whole gallon), and filled up the radiator. Started up the truck, belt squealing, and hightailed it home. The heater went from hot to cold after about 2 miles, so I figured I just spit out that gallon of coolant. Got home, with the temp gauge hovering right around "H". Popped the hood, and again, there was coolant everywhere. I rinsed the entire engine bay with the garden hose, and that's where am at tonight.

Tomorrow I plan on filling it back up with coolant, and letting it get up to temp, to see where the leak is.

With all that said, are there any common failures in the 3rd gen 4.7's cooling system? Anywhere I should look first?

 

Well first, they DON'T like being run hot. You may have already warped a head or blown a head gasket. Try pressure-testing, rather than more running hot. Hope you let it cool before spraying cold water on a hot engine. What was the temp gauge showing?

Good luck.

 

For about 5 miles to the house, the gauge was at about 3/4 to H. About the last mile home, it was right below the H. It never got into the red.

 

tons of threads with 4.7s and blown head gasket so be careful. Sounds like you might be ok though. Just keep an eye on it after you find the leak and solve it. Be sure to post some pics

 

Are there any common pieces of the cooling system that usually let go? Radiator, water pump, hoses, etc? This truck only has 33,000 miles on it. I usually just drive it back and forth to the grocery store, and home depot.

 

If you had coolant sprayed all over the engine bay, I would think the upper radiator hose blew.

 

I inspected both radiator hoses, and heater core hoses when I stopped at the auto parts store. I didn't see anything abnormal about any of them. I think the reason the engine bay was covered, is because the fan was most likely slinging the coolant all over the place.

 

You may have recently distorted a head or blown a head gasket. Attempt weight testing, instead of all the more running hot. Trust you give it a chance to cool before spreading chilly water on a hot motor.

 

Check the thermostat housing too. I can't remember if it's plastic or not.

 

So, went outside this morning and visually inspected everything. Nothing stood out. I grabbed the upper radiator hose, and squeezed it. It was dry, and also sounded like air was squeezing out from the front of the motor. So I pulled the upper radiator hose, and started pouring coolant in the hose, so it would run down into the water pump. I could hear the coolant running down into the water pump. Then, as fast as I was pouring it in, it started pouring out on the ground. It was coming from the fan pulley area. I grabbed the fan, and wiggled it.

Holy moly, the entire fan, and fan pulley has about 2-3 inches of back and forth play. So I guess the water pump is fubar. Gonna try to tear it down today.