Hi all,

Replaced my fan and fan clutch today. While I had it apart, I figured I'd swap the belt, since I had an extra laying around - the one in there was fine, but it was beginning to show some tiny cracks in a few places. With the belt off, I checked the water pump for play and found it! Obviously the bearings are shot and the pump needs to be replaced. Fortunately, there isn't any noticeable play with the belt connected, but I guess that doesn't offer too much comfort.

Questions:
1. How quickly does it need to be addressed? Looking for an answer on a scale from "do not start the engine until you replace the pump" to "you can put a few miles on the truck around town to get some parts, but don't go on a road trip - you need to do this soon"
2. What is the failure progression? I have play in the bearing - looking to learn what happens next - does the pump shaft and pulley just break off and grenade the front of my engine? Does it start to cause a weep leak before that? Currently there is no leak.
3. Should I revert back to the original fan and fan clutch if I need to drive the truck? I haven't started it since I put on the new fan and fan clutch. I replaced the original fan and fan clutch with a Dorman 620-112 fan and Hayden 2991 Severe Duty fan clutch. I wouldn't be surprised if the newer fan and clutch put some more stress on the water pump - I don't even know if the play is enough for the fan to contact the fan shroud. Currently, there's some clearance, but it's not very much.

Thanks all!

 

You're asking an unanswerable question...it could go a hundred miles or fail within minutes.

You've got it apart...just change it now. You'd be pretty pissed at yourself if you smoked the motor on account of something you knew might fail.

 

Fair enough - obviously I need to replace it, just not sure whether I should avoid driving the truck while I'm waiting for the new part to come. Which one do you recommend? Sounds like this Airtex STC4378 is a crowd favorite but it's double the price of some of the other ones on RockAuto or Lucky8:

https://www.britishpartsofutah.com/R...p/stc4378x.htm

Also - I believe it was your advice that I read to check the shaft for play when I was swapping my fan and fan clutch. Thank you. Otherwise I never would've known.

 

Try Atlantic British on eBay, super good deal and it's an OEM Airtex unit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Water-Pump-...rd!18436!US!-1

 

I've bought my last two water pumps from Lucky 8, super fast shipping...sometimes it's almost amazingly fast.

 

Do you get the $44 one or the $100 Britpart? If I’m spending $100 I’d probably get the Airtex one from AB or BPoU.... Lucky8 doesn’t give any details on the manufacturer of their $44 pump though.

 

> https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/AX-STC4378

 

https://www.ebay.com/i/124059253967?chn=ps ?? another airtex or a knockoff?, looks slightly different, wonder how close these all are in quality.....


EDIT: I put a BRITPART in mine....

 

My thoughts exactly. Some list the Airtex as having a heavy duty impeller, others don't. I can't seem to find any reliable part numbers either.

Hoping to get this installed this week, so I'll try and order by the end of the day tomorrow. Hopefully someone can chime in with a reliable option that they've used.

 

My last one cam from Napa