deerlick
Well-Known Member
Sounds like the clutch fan is not pulling good, it would be highly unlikely for that waterpump to have the fins eroded off of it.
how about inside the rad? was it clean?OK an update. We removed the radiator and it was very dirty, mostly on the passenger side. We thoroughly cleaned and reinstalled. Although this seemed to help a minor amount, it is definitely not the root cause as the truck still gets warm. The thermostat is a new shucks brand ($40). Looked at buying a chrysler stat, but it is $95. It has the small air bleeders and appears identical. The clutch fan feels very tight, however I am not sure what the best way to test them is. The lower radiator hose is somewhat soft, however it has a wire inside. Running the engine at ~2000 rpm it does not appear to suck shut.
At this point we believe either the clutch fan is faulty, the water pump impeller has been severely eroded, or the belt may be slipping. The bearing on the pump feels very tight and there in no evidence of a leak. However, when removing the radiator, a sandy silt settled out of the coolant, much more than "a little". Also, with the thermostat removed, the truck will still eventually get hot.
Oh, the truck actually has 130k miles on it now, 42k miles this year and this is the first problem with it.