water pump installation

[97RedRam]

I just had my leaking water pump replaced. For those who want a ballpark price for a gen 2 Ram 1500 with 5.9 this would help. I got a new water pump(2 year/24,000 mile warranty), new serp belt, new idler pully, new 195 degree thermistat(replacing the 205 degree from the factory), 2 gallons of “green” coolant and installation labor for 900.00. Took my trusted tech/mechanic about 4 hours. Would have taken me all day and would have cost me about 300 to 400 in parts. I live just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Hope this info helps someone when their water pump dies. Truck has about 56,000 miles.

 

[crazy jerry]

better hope he didnt use the cheap auto parts pump or youll be paying the price again in a few short years.
did the seal just go bad or what happened ?

 

[97RedRam]

Yes the seal went bad and started the leak. I could smell coolant for a while but the leak must have been so small there was no puddling. Then last week it must have failed completely and I got a signficant leak. The pump came from O’reillys with the 2 year warranty so we will see how it My wechanic, who was an aircraft mechanic in the Navy thought it was a good pump when he installed it.

 

[crazy jerry]

they may have various grades of pumps. the ones that cost half price of oe have low qaulity china bearing and seal. if you see 50k before the bearing or seal failed again you would be very lucky.
assuming yours was original ,it possibly failed from inactivity over the years. 56k on a 97 ? . mine on my 96 dakota made it to 100k and still worked fine but the timing chain had developed some slack so the pump had to be removed

 

[97RedRam]

crazy jerry, I am sure some inactivity was part of the cause of the water pump failung. you are correct in saying I probably will not see 50 thousand since I only drive around town in my Ram. At least I have a 2 year warranty so I do not have to worry about it for a while. I have other vehicles to drive as well as my truck.