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my truck peed the parking lot

3K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  El Pozzinator 
#1 ·
so i pulled in at work this morning, backed into my spot, waited to get under 400* EGT (cuz i'm neurotic) and let the turbo spool down, shut down and got out. sounded like someone was slowly pouring out a bucket of water. looked at the truck and that wonderful coolant-colored shower was coming off the front right of the block... overflow is completely empty - obviously, because it's on the parking lot!

got in there with a flashlight and it looks like it's coming from somewhere around the middle front of the block, as the thermostat housing is dry. pretty sure that's water pump.

any thoughts whether i'll be ok to fill the coolant tank with water and scoot back to the house (about 18 miles)? bout to get parts on the way from Genos to do the water pump, thermostat, belt, tensioner, and upper and lower hoses. figured while i'm in there, might as well do a little maintenance.

would knock out the fan clutch as well, but i'm pretty sure the wife would murder me for spending another $420 right now...
 
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#4 ·
What these guys said.

Mind that your temp gage is not linear.
It's linear up until ~210 and itll stop there. Then it will spike to 230 if your coolant reaches 230.
So there's a programmed deadband of about ~20 degrees.
 
#5 ·
i'll fill it back up with a hose then and gingerly drive it home. sadly, i don't have my usual two gallons of distilled water in the toolbox at the moment. sounds like with that dead spot i probably ought to swap over one of the gauges on the CTS to show coolant temp. wonder if that dead spot is in the sensor or the dash gauge - guess i'm about to find out.

while it's apart i'm seriously considering grabbing a coolant bypass kit (either fleece or motorops) and a coolant filter kit. just not sure whether it'd be better to pick it up now and do it while the coolant is already going to be drained or hold off for later - especially in light of the cost of those things. cuz i wasn't exaggerating earlier. the wife would straight up lose her religion...
 
#6 ·
The deadspot is the gauge, not the sensor. The CTS will pick it up the unfiltered value just fine, use that.

The filter was programmed into the gauge to prevent everyone from bringing their trucks into the dealer for temp fluctuations that were of no consequence. Apparently that was a problem at some point.

Found this all out this past summer in similar situation you're experiencing...failed water pump towing the cumberland gap in Tennessee. Turns out in the earlier 1900s it was a real feat for steam locomotives. 2016 - the struggle is still real!

Good luck!
 
#7 ·
rolled thru the Gap this summer on my way to PA. it's REAL entertaining at about 0300 on my 4th Surge (remember those? coke started selling them again in LA, MS, AL, and FL!!!) with the cruise set at 74.

yee-haw!
 
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#8 ·
Santa UPS driver showed up today! Geno's to the rescue with a new water pump, thermostat, upper and lower radiator hoses, and some transmission filters so i can flush that sucker out while i'm at it too... now if Ma Nature will cooperate, i'll get this knocked out without getting drenched.

opened up the radiator drain (nothing came out). popped the radiator cap and coolant overflow tank and it started draining... out of the water pump.

finally managed to get a breaker bar on the tensioner and got the belt loose.

and then...

...sonofa(bad word)!!!

the tensioner released and now the breaker bar is stuck against the hot side intercooler pipe. won't come out. tried prying on it with a pickle fork, wiggling it, and removing the bolt that holds the tensioner - can't get the ratcheting wrench in there behind the breaker bar to get on the bolt.

any suggestions that don't involve pulling the hot side pipe?
 
#11 ·
@northwestnative i'm just shy of 140k on the original water pump so i'm frankly shocked it lasted this long. mostly daily driving to and from work, grocery getting, and kid hauling. some road trips, occasional light towing / hauling, and rare medium-heavy towing. never overheated, never beat on, and the highest i turn the EFI live is "3" til i get the trans built and the head studded. it gave up the ghost the other day while driving to work. ~17 miles one way, mostly rural highway 55-65mph with light traffic. wife said it'd been dribbling a bit the night before, but when i pulled into the office and got out it was pouring off the front of the engine. i knew it was on borrowed time probably about six months ago but i've been hoping it would last til next time my in-laws swing down; father in law doesn't know what to do with himself since retirement if he doesn't have projects so i try to let them pile up til he comes in. mother in law gets to hang out with the kids and he gets to do stuff for some people who actually appreciate it.
@cyauch ...deployments? brother, i WISH. i've been out since 08 and home since 11. man, i miss it every. single. day. used to pile up parts while we were gone (she's a vet as well) - but i haven't outranked her since the last time we were both in uniform.
 
#12 · (Edited)
pretty sure my tensioner was shot:



and the water pump felt like there was gravel in the shaft:



had to knock it out with a breaker bar and a 3-lb sledge. gasket on the back wasn't compromised, so it musta been pouring out the weep hole. i'm wondering if there's a clog somewhere in the cooling system that would cause that.

belt? yeah... definitely seen better days:





bonus! while i was under there, i noticed that my brake master cylinder reservoir cover had apparently gone AWOL at some unknown juncture. which is great, because it's been ...oh, about 98% humidity here the last week or so. guess i'll be swinging by the local tire store to get a full brake system bleed as well. given that i'm pretty sure the belt, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, radiator hoses, and coolant have never been changed before, i'm betting it's probably also 8-year-old brake fluid. so, basically, mostly water anyway. eew... :vomit007:
 
#14 ·
Great writeup ! If you are still alive, if the significant other starts complaining about costs, take her for a ride to the local Ram dealer. "Here's the option honey, $1000 to make this truck go another 100,000 month miles or trade it in on a new '17 for 60,000 grand. You choose sweety".
 
#15 ·
When I did everything else, I went ahead and swapped the thermostat with a 180* unit while it was drained. Just waiting til I get the garage sorted out and have some space to work and I'll slap on the coolant bypass which replaces the rear main freeze plug with another 180* t-stat.

I'm hoping everything holds out as long as possible before the truck starts showing signs that it needs to be studded.
 
#17 ·
Too cool and it can cause problems, I'd keep it factory. My water pump went on me too 2 years ago, was a floodgate of water through the shaft bearing. couldn't hold anything in it.
 
#19 ·
I've absolutely noticed a drop in mpg. Not so much daily driving as my trip is 17-20 miles each way rural highway with about 9 lights fro here to work, speed limits 45-55 (realistically doing 50-65). But a recent cannonball Baton Rouge to Wilmington NC to Charleston SC and back ~2200 mi total netted right around 13.5mpg. Granted the first leg was nearly all in torrential downpour at 30-35mph (no joke, took me 22 hrs to go ~1000 mi to Wilmington). Went with the 180* based on a limited amount of sniffing around suggesting cooler meant marginally better power. Didn't find anything suggesting it may be detrimental to long term survivability, but the plan wasn't to leave this one in until it dies anyway. Just til I can get the coolant bypass installed. Wife's a teacher which means she's off for the summer. Which means I'm never off because she's got a bottomless "hey-ahole"-do list.

Interestingly, my IATs have held at ~105-115*. Wondering if the intercooler function might be compromised from the CCV and 150k of use.
 
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