Water Pump/B2 Running Hot


Twister

15+ Year Member

V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
1,921
Points
3,101
City
Omaha, Ne
Vehicle Year
1985 1987
Transmission
Manual
Ok so i have an 85 B2, this little shit is causing me troubles. When i got it it ran fine but not well. I started having problems with it running very hot according to the factory temp gauge. It was leaking coolant as well. Well i flushed the radiator, replaced the t-stat and fixed the leaking problem. But it still runs very hot.

So my question is, how can i tell if my water pump is going out?
 
That is hard to tell. Do you have water in your oil? You can tell if there is water in your oil if you see "milky" or any white foam on your dipstick. How does the coolant look? You could have a head gasket leak or cracked heads. If all of that is good and your radiator is flushed then it is probably your water pump. I have a used one that is in perfect condition if you want to get one for cheap.
 
Well i have no milky oil, i am pretty sure i dont have a head gasket leak or cracked heads but not completely sure. I just drained my coolant to replace the lower hose which turned out to be fine, the coolant was the same color coming out as it was going in.

So i looks i will be replacing the water pump, and prolly at the same time swapping in a 4l radiator.
 
The radiator found on those trucks are plenty. I am swapping in a 4.0L and am using my current 2.8L radiator. The thing that may help with the rad. swap is the current one is plugged.
 
i am the only one with radiator runs cold.
 
is the rad full of dirt or grease, or are the fins crushed? sometimes taking it out and pressure washing it can help.

you can check for circulation , by removing the therm , and starting the truck cold with the rad cap off. you should be able to see it flow once it begins to warm up. make sure you shut it down before it boils over... are you losing coolant? you might just have a bad cap. ... is the weep hole on the pump weeping?bad sign.
another trick you might try is to stuff a white paper towel up behind the fan from beneath the pump, then from the top down , douse the pump with wd40. if the stain on the towel turns rusty , you have a bad bearing in your pump.

if nothing is wrong , and its still too hot for your taste , you may try adding an electric fan. hope you get to the bottom of this soon
 
water pumps are under 50 bucks, just replace it and call it good.
 
water pumps are under 50 bucks, just replace it and call it good.

Thats what i thought, i am not going to drain the coolant again without replacing it and the rad.
 

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