Roadmedic

Lost mine at 528,558 miles about 2 years after I changed the antifreeze.

stiesel

152,xxx no flush, no fail. yet

BibBubba

flush who knows, bought the truck and the day i test drove it was leaking, they put a new one in that was 78k

banyon

Mine has 145,000 & no leaks.

DarkPaladin

Mine failed at like 40k... Started to leak some out the weep hole.

Grand Geek

171000 miles.. No leaks no failure.. The belt broke (wore out) and when changing that i found a part of the pully missing so i changed the idler pully.

2wheelmike

I just had my pump go out rather catestrophically. There's water leaking out all over the place. I was close to home when it let go and the engine temp never got hot and the belt is still intact, so hopefully OK. Looking under the hood, I see a pully (or is it the pump?) all cocked and clearly messed up. Where is the pump, right at the front of the block, right?

I had the coolant changed when I bought the truck used at 68k miles. The dealer supposedly checked the coolant condition just before the warranty expired (I now have 100104 miles). Yet the coolant shows none of the usual glycol color or smell. The receipt from coolant replacement says Global coolant?

Dr.Dizzle

The water pump is located on the front as you mentioned. Look at the alternator , then look below it and to the right a little. The pulley wheel on the water pump is smooth and not ribbed.

You mentioned Global coolant. I assume that you did not purchase the truck at a Dodge dealer? Global coolants are typically categorized as OAT formulations or Organic Acid Technology. Most of which are derivatives of Dexcool or clones if you will. Dodge specs. a Hybrid Organic Acid Technology or HOAT formulated coolant.

2wheelmike

Thanks. I'll speak with the mechanic about getting the correct coolant. Yes, it was the pump main bearing that failed because the drive pulley is cocked. My son sure hopes they can fix it quick since I'm s'posed to haul him and his stuff back to college this weekend.

Dr.Dizzle

If they don't have the time to perform the service for you today, you can do it yourself. Not a difficult procedure to perform at all. Here is a quick how to:

Once you remove the belt and drain the coolant, the rest is simple. The pump utilizes 2 - 10 mm bolts. The housing to block surfaces are sealed with an o-ring that comes with the new pump. Make sure to install the new pump with the weephole facing toward the ground. Once the new pump is on and the 2-10mm bolts are snug, torque the bolts to 18ft.lbs.

You will not need to remove the shroud or anything else in order to remove the belt. Open your hood and look down, it should have the routing diagram on the shroud. The automatic tensioner (# 7 ) is located below and between the alternator pulley(#1) and the water pump pulley (#2). You can place a 1/2" drive socket wrench or breaker bar into the square hole on the belt tensioner in order to relieve the tension from the belt.


Keep in mind that you will also need the correct HOATcoolant. At the present time, there are four G0-5 HOAT coolants available. The mechanic will likely try to install a non HOAT formulated or "All makes and models coolant". In order to prevent ths,the following list contains those coolants suitable for use in the Dodge Ram:

Mopar 5 Year/100,000 Mile with (HOAT) Embittered

Ford / Motorcraft Premium Gold Engine Coolant - Ford Part #VC-7-B (USA) or CVC-7-B (Canada)

Mercedes Benz Antifreeze Agent - Part # Q 103 0002

Valvoline Zerex G-05 Hoat -
Available in concentrate. The NAPA part # is ZXG051. NAPA carries all of the Valvoline product line. If they do not have it on the shelves or behind the counter, a store associate can order it for you.

The following is from the 2003 DR Dodge Ram Service Manual:

REMOVAL
CAUTION: Do not attempt to check belt tension with
a belt tension gauge on vehicles equipped with an
automatic belt tensioner. Refer to Automatic Belt
Tensioner in this group.

NOTE: The belt routing schematics are published
from the latest information available at the time of
publication. If anything differs between these schematics
and the Belt Routing Label, use the schematics
on Belt Routing Label.This label is located in
the engine compartment.

Drive belts on diesel engines are equipped with a
spring loaded automatic belt tensioner. displays the
tensioner for vehicles without air conditioning.
This belt tensioner will be used on all belt configurations,
such as with or without air conditioning.

For more information, (Refer to 7 - COOLING/ACCESSORY
DRIVE/BELT TENSIONERS - DESCRIPTION).
(1) A 1/2 inch square hole is provided in the automatic
belt tensioner. Attach a 1/2 inch drive-long
handle ratchet to this hole.
(2) Rotate ratchet and tensioner assembly clockwise
(as viewed from front) until tension has been
relieved from belt.
(3) Remove belt from water pump pulley first.
(4) Remove belt from vehicle.

INSTALLATION
CAUTION: When installing the accessory drive belt,
the belt must be routed correctly. If not, engine may
overheat due to water pump rotating in wrong
direction. Refer to (Fig. 15) for correct engine belt
routing. The correct belt with correct length must
be used.
(1) Position drive belt over all pulleys except
water pump pulley.
(2) Attach a 1/2 inch ratchet to tensioner.
(3) Rotate ratchet and belt tensioner clockwise.
Place belt over water pump pulley. Let tensioner
rotate back into place. Remove ratchet. Be sure belt
is properly seated on all pulleys.

You will also want to flush your old coolant out at this time as well. I have attached a link that demonstrates the coolant flush procedure as per forum member AH64ID.



https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=coolant+flush

rebal

out of 9 trucks all CTDs none failed before 180,000 all failed by 250,000miles

sdmark

119xxx still going. It has been flushed 2 times already.

shortie

replaced first pump at 100,000 as a maintenance item , did not fal, second pump faled at 185,000.
been running cat elc since 30,000

jpfishmaster

130 k and counting

Highway 4x4

No problems here, that being said it will fail tomorrow. 100K miles, at the rate I put on miles it will be owned by someone else when it fails.