Wha?! In proceeding with the radiator replacement on my son's Ram 1500, I have got all the old bits out. Pulled the water pump this morning. I was a bit surprised to see a good many black chunks of what appears to be hard plastic. One of them was loose, and it appears in the attached image on the housing surface. The others are still wedged into the inlet of the plastic impeller wheel. The surface of the loose one appears a little like a rock that's been tumbled or polished in the ocean, so I'm guessing it's been there a while. Truck has not had a water pump replaced since it came into my possession three years ago.
I suppose my top theory right now is that this pump is a replacement for one that came apart at some earlier time. In spite of the very noticeable blockage in the impeller, the truck did not overheat, and in fact has been running just fine with the gauge consistently right about halfway up.
Could these black chunks be something else?
New pump is by GMB and has an aluminum impeller. I'm going to look at the old pump more closely and see if it's OE.
Thoughts?
Well, it's got a Dodge part number on it, so it's either original, or a dealer replacement. I'm guessing the latter.
Surely someone has encountered a similar situation?
Also, the instructions that came with the pump say to use only silicone grease on the rubber seal. Sealing surface on the block seems pretty clean, but I was wanting to get a little extra security against it leaking. Guess I'll just follow the instructions and torque it to spec.
The chunks do look like they could be plastic impeller blades, it's hard to imagine what else they could be...
GameboyRMH said:
The chunks do look like they could be plastic impeller blades, it's hard to imagine what else they could be...
I agree. The more I thought about this, the more I was convinced of that. But I went into the job very much expecting that I would be replacing the water pump that was in the truck when it was new, since I've owned the truck from about 120k miles and figured the original pump would last that long. Apparently not the case. What is the expected life span of an OEM water pump?
It's been replaced. The thin schmere of rtv gives it away. Those had a habit of spinning the wheel on the shaft which would cause an overheat. Just use the oring provided and make sure it has enough height to be crushed down.
1988RedT2 said: What is the expected life span of an OEM water pump?
Same as every non consumable part, 150k. Altho I swear some are made to just make it past warranty....
I'd say 90% chance chunks of impeller, 10% chance chunks of stop leak from a previous owner. Either way I'd flush it out with a garden hose, put the new pump in, and carry on like nothing happened.
