2004 Silverado 1500 5.3L V8 150,000 Miles
Hi guys,
My truck just ate its second water pump. The OEM pump lasted about 120,000 miles and for about 10-11 years, then the second pump was installed and lasted for about 25-30k and only 2-2.5 years.
That being said, I still dont understand completely why it failed. I had accidentally left the coolant overflow reservoir cap loose (its the only fill cap on this type of system). My battery died and I had the truck jump started. Then I proceeded to flash the throttle several times to charge the battery and i noticed steam/smoke coming out from under the hood. I opened up the hood and went to check and knew exactly what it was, radiator fluid steam. it smelled horrible. I tightened the cap and drove home. Refilled the system thru the reservoir overflow tank (like i said its the only way to fill this system) and noticed that it was slowly dripping from under the engine. This slow leak progressed into a medium then finally a constant leak over the course of about 2 months to where i had to finally change the pump since the truck wouldnt hold water.
During the time while the leak was occuring i was running nothing but water through the cooling system. All the dexcool had drained out several times over and was actually "flushed" out, thru the use of about 15-20 gallons of distilled water (1-2 gallons at a time) over the course of 2 months while the pump was still leaking, until i could get some free time to change the pump.
That being said, now that the pump has been replaced and the system is holding water. I'm wanting to change over to green coolant. but I'm worried because the dexcool has been in the system so long that im worried the aluminum/iron coolant passages, water jackets, and heater core have been "conditioned" to the dexcool, and that introducing a new coolant, this late in the game, will cause some sort of caustic condition where the entire system may rust up or some other uncontrollable/unforeseeable effect that will ruin my day.
Can anyone suggest whether im just being paranoid? Or is it a good idea, this late in the game, to just keep with dexcool since the parts have indeed been conditioned to it, and not to risk rusting anything up?
Any suggestions greatly appreciated,
Hi guys,
My truck just ate its second water pump. The OEM pump lasted about 120,000 miles and for about 10-11 years, then the second pump was installed and lasted for about 25-30k and only 2-2.5 years.
That being said, I still dont understand completely why it failed. I had accidentally left the coolant overflow reservoir cap loose (its the only fill cap on this type of system). My battery died and I had the truck jump started. Then I proceeded to flash the throttle several times to charge the battery and i noticed steam/smoke coming out from under the hood. I opened up the hood and went to check and knew exactly what it was, radiator fluid steam. it smelled horrible. I tightened the cap and drove home. Refilled the system thru the reservoir overflow tank (like i said its the only way to fill this system) and noticed that it was slowly dripping from under the engine. This slow leak progressed into a medium then finally a constant leak over the course of about 2 months to where i had to finally change the pump since the truck wouldnt hold water.
During the time while the leak was occuring i was running nothing but water through the cooling system. All the dexcool had drained out several times over and was actually "flushed" out, thru the use of about 15-20 gallons of distilled water (1-2 gallons at a time) over the course of 2 months while the pump was still leaking, until i could get some free time to change the pump.
That being said, now that the pump has been replaced and the system is holding water. I'm wanting to change over to green coolant. but I'm worried because the dexcool has been in the system so long that im worried the aluminum/iron coolant passages, water jackets, and heater core have been "conditioned" to the dexcool, and that introducing a new coolant, this late in the game, will cause some sort of caustic condition where the entire system may rust up or some other uncontrollable/unforeseeable effect that will ruin my day.
Can anyone suggest whether im just being paranoid? Or is it a good idea, this late in the game, to just keep with dexcool since the parts have indeed been conditioned to it, and not to risk rusting anything up?
Any suggestions greatly appreciated,
