Water pump/Heater Core?

[Jimmy9190]

Guys I need some help please. After driving home 26 miles one way tonight, I noticed me engine had an odd sound. It just didn't sound exactly right and had a very slight vibration as it idled in the yard here at my house. This is in my 01 Dodge Dakota, it has a V6 engine and 141,150 miles on it. It still has its original water pump. I checked and the upper radiator hose is hot like it should be. The lower radiator hose is cold. Both heater hoses are hot, one seems to be slightly cooler than the other. My truck never overheated or had any problems coming home tonight and the heat works great. I had to turn it down to about half way on the temperature selector and put the fan on low. The heater has always worked very well like that.

Does this sound like a bad water pump to you, or something else? I have had the coolant flushed 3 times now since I bought the truck 102,000 miles ago. The radiator is new, thanks to being in a front-end wreck back in March last year. Before that, the radiator was replaced in 2007 after I hit a small deer. The thermostat is about 3 or 4 years old now, it's a Napa Super Stat, I would think it would still be OK.

I am guessing water pump here, but like I said the truck did not and has not ever overheated. I looked at the bottom of the water pump, there is no coolant dripping out of the weep hole, but there is a LOT of dirt and crud on the one side of the bottom of the pump, the other side is relatively clean. It's hard to get a good look at the entire bottom side of the pump, but I am guessing the weep hole has been leaking and instead of dripping to the ground, it mixed with dirt and grease/oil on that side of the engine instead.

Any help or ideas on this is very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[SLCraig]

Honestly it sounds like nothing is wrong with anything from your post.

A water pump at least in my experience does not give any vibration or any weird symptoms. They basically start to leak slow, then bam, they gush.

Just a tiny bit of buildup or seepage is probably somewhat normal.

Maybe just monitor stuff.

Also if you blow good heat the thermostat is working.

 

[Texan4Life]

Doesn't sound like the water pump to me. BUT it is always good to check it so it doesn't leave you stranded.

Take the serpentine belt off and spin the pulley by hand. spin everything else while your at it.

all pulleys should spine smoothly and not wobble.

 

[punisher]

If you think there is an abnormal vibration, pull the belt and check ALL pulleys for looseness/wobble. I have seen some waterpumps that were just sloppy loose and not leak a drop (mind out of the gutter there).

 

[Noey]

Yeah, H2O pumps are pretty quiet...coolant issues typically are, they're 'silent but deadly', finally busting, usually in the middle of the night somewhere. Pumps need to be replaced when they leak. Heater cores leak, but you'd know that b/c you'd either see a puddle (under the dash), and/or you'd overheat. At 150k, however, you're pretty much at the end of the life cycle of both, though...Warm /cold hoses nothwithstanding..which mean nothing, actually.

The easiest way to determine the cause of the sound you heard is to warm the engine up and try to duplicate it, and listen with am automotive stethoscope..available at any auto parts store for $10 and well worth it..and listen for the location of the noise.

 

[another Todd]

when you have the belt off (or not) try to rock the fan up and down or side to side to see if the WP bearing is going. If the WP shaft moves when you rock it the bearing is bad and u need to replace the pump. Otherwise, I agree with the above posts, maybe nothing is wrong.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks for the replies. I read online that it is normal for the lower hose to be cooler than the upper hose. I feel like I should have known that all along, but even so the lower hose is very cool to the touch while the upper hose is very hot. It was pretty cold here today for Florida, it was probably between 40 to 50 degrees coming home this afternoon. Maybe going 65 MPH in that temperature caused the hose to feel cooler than usual. My truck also seems to make a few more noises when it is very cold out. I guess it is cold-natured just like me.

I have a 3 day weekend coming up with the MLK holiday on Monday. I think I will just change the pump, upper and lower radiator hoses and the heater hoses and thermostat too this weekend. I will use my water hose and flush the heater core through the heater hoses too. With over 141K on the original water pump and hoses, I think it's a good idea. And good insurance. It's funny how this should come up just 3 days after I posted in the coolant forum for info on the "Mix-With-Any-Color" antifreeze I saw at Walmart this past Sunday.

Thanks for the help here.

 

[Virtuoso]

If there is no leaking, no overheating, and all your hoses are intact, I would leave your cooling system alone. Your heater core is fine if it's still working that well. You've flushed your coolant plenty!

IMO more diagnosis should be done before you rip into your engine.

 

[Jimmy9190]

You guys are right. I will leave the water pump alone. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, nor any of the pulleys and other related parts. The pump will have signs and symptoms before it finally does bite the dust.

I guess I tend to over-react a bit if I notice something out of the ordinary on my truck. It is paid for and I want it to last forever so I pay very close attention to even the slightest noise or odd condition.

I have read and always believed that if you change out the coolant regularly (which I have) the water pump and radiator should last a very long time. Some water pumps fail at less than 100K, some go over 200K. For now, I am going to leave well enough alone.

I do appreciate everyone's help and advice here.