I'm preparing to replace my water pump, serp belt, hoses, thermo and viscous coupling. From what I have read this is very easy to accomplish for anyone who does not constantly have to say to themselves "righty tighty, lefty loosey."

Anyway, I'm wondering how much more difficulty is added to the task by changing the timing gears, timing chain and oil pump gears while I'm in there. I have a gear puller and know how to use it, so getting the harm balancer and timing gears off should be no sweat.

I realize the front cover and oil pan need to come out. Can I get some comments / tips from those who have done it with the engine in the truck?

Thanks in advance.

 

Not difficult at all, you don't even need a gear puller.

The hardest is getting the crankshaft pulley off if I remember correctly, and even that wasn't that difficult.

Two good jack stands right behind the front cross member, and you won't have to jack it twice. lift it up by the frame until the front wheels are off the ground so you can remove the plastic shield under the engine bay. Y>ou have to remove the front cross member to remove the sump, and in my case those 8 bolts were the only ones that were significantly rusted under there. Use penetrating oil generously a few days in advance. clean the mating surfaces and apply rust treatment before re installing the cross member. The rest is pretty straight forward.

 

Okay, thanks a lot - parts are on the way from AB. All except for the water pump which I could not locate on their website and found very strange. Had to go online for that and also picked up the viscous fan coupling there, too. AutoZone wanted $150 plus the core for a new pump; found (probably) the same one new on eBay for $45 (no core) and the fan coupling for $55 both with free shipping.

 

Go to British Parts of Utah and buy their German made water pump with the brass empellor and a 2 year warranty it is a much better pump.
By the way, you can not just replace the fan clutch on your 03, you have to replace the entire fan assembly as the clutch is part of the fan.
Make sure you install a 180 t/stat and some form of green coolant for better results and when flushing/refilling use only distilled water to prevent a lot of calcium build up.