water pump failing?

rdaino

Member
twice in the last 5 months , i have had a half dollar size amount of coolant from directly underneath the water pump / pulley area of my 94 d90 nas 3.9
engine temperature is normal and no noises from the water pump.
could this be anything other than the pump starting to fail?
i was just planning to monitor the situation and come winter replace the pump , thermostat and gaskets anything else?
thx
rob
 

evilfij

Well-known member
Look at the bottom of the water pump and if there is a trail of coolant residue running from the weep hole, you need a new water pump. IMHO on the v-belt it is worth the money for genuine as it is not as easy as on a serp belt truck.
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
Look at the bottom of the water pump and if there is a trail of coolant residue running from the weep hole, you need a new water pump. IMHO on the v-belt it is worth the money for genuine as it is not as easy as on a serp belt truck.
The last Genuine one I got was very clearly just a repacked aftermarket one with the addition of a genuine gasket. It even included one of those cheap cardboard gaskets in the bag with the pump.
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
That’s not good. Any luck with the current aftermarket ones?
I’ve never had an aftermarket one fail for a v8 truck.

I would highly recommend that anyone ordering a water pump also order a genuine gasket or at least a second gasket. Typically the gaskets are just thrown in the box with the pump and are super brittle.
 

evilfij

Well-known member
I’ve never had an aftermarket one fail for a v8 truck.

I would highly recommend that anyone ordering a water pump also order a genuine gasket or at least a second gasket. Typically the gaskets are just thrown in the box with the pump and are super brittle.
Agree 100% on the genuine gasket. It was a long, long time ago, but there were some aftermarket that were complete crap (saw a few dented bonnets and sliced up rads bad).
 
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