When to replace water pump

[joecool85]

My brother's pump died on his 2002 Ram w/4.7 V8 yesterday (on his way from moving from Maine to New Jersey, luckily it broke while in Maine and close to the folks house). He had to fix it on the side of the road in the rain. And by fix I mean replace the water pump.

Anyway, it got me thinking. His truck has 126k miles, mine has 146k. I've never replaced my pump. When do these go on the 3.0 normally? Also, am I correct there aren't really any warning signs and they just kind of give up and let go at some point?

 

[locovaca]

It depends on what goes out on it. Aside from the pump leaking out the weap hole the more common failures are the fins rotting out (which would show itself by running warmer than usual and then leading to overheating) or the bearings going out which would be audible. If you're that worried about it regularly checking for leaking, fixing any strange noises that arise, and keeping an eye on your gauges should be sufficient.

That being said they're only $20 or $30 new. If you want the peace of mind that's a pretty manageable expense if you're going to do it on your own.

 

[joecool85]

I'll stop worrying then. I'll just keep an eye out for leaks and noises which I do anyways. I will probably replace it when I go ahead and do my hoses and thermostat.

Is it an easy install? I seem to remember reading about needing a special tool to get the fan off. Or was that just the fan clutch not the whole assembly?

 

[locovaca]

You don't necessarily need a special tool to get the fan clutch off. You just need to get the clutch off of the pulley on the water pump. The special "tool" is a belt strap that wraps around the pulley and keeps it from moving; if you have an old belt and some vice grips you can make your own version for free.

As for difficulty it's not terribly difficult but I did mine when the engine was out of the truck so I'm not sure what all you have to remove to get at it.

 

[krs]

I just took the fan and fan clutch out - for me it was a bit of a hassle (I see a few threads on the forum about it), but not (too) bad...

 

[06RangerXLT]

hammer and chissle takes the fan off in usually one well aimed hit.