I replaced the water pump today. The leak was from the weephole whose plug was completely gone. The impellor on the pump was totally shattered and not attached to the shaft. The job was actually not too bad. The hardest parts were getting the fan shroud out with the fan connected and, of course, getting the fan clutch off the shaft. I also had to use a cheater bar to loosen the belt tensioner.
I think I could (should) have done it with the fan shroud in place because it was such a tight squeeze getting it past the fan clutch. I borrowed the fan clutch tool from the auto parts store and discovered there really wasn't anyplace to attach it to hold the pully in place while trying to turn the wrench on the shaft. So I took the pump off, then attached a couple bolts to the holes in the pully part of the pump. Then wedged a bar between the bolts and was able to give the wrench on the shaft a good whack with my hammer to loosen it and get it turning.
A couple good things about the 4.7 in the 2003 Ram 1500 is that there is a lot of room to work in and there is a lot of shaft to get a wrench on - I used a big Cresent. Bad thing was I couldn't see a way to hold the pully while turning the shaft. It would have been easier if I had gotten the fan and fan clutch off before removing the pump. The gasket for this pump is cool - heavy rubber material that fits into a slot. I did use gasket sealant on it anyway and I put some on all the bolts. I am sure Dodge has a tool to hold the pulley but I didn't want to but one for one use. I also laid the bolts out in order to keep track of them - they're all a different length.
The only things I'm unsure about is if I got the fan/fan clutch shaft on tight enough and if the belt tensioner is adjusted properly. I did a good shake down drive and everything seems tight and no leaks - yay!. I will probably run it by the garage to have them check those two things for me for a few bucks. All in all it went well and took about 4 hours - but I spent a bit of time getting the fan clutch off.
Thursday, May 13th, 2021 AT 12:15 PM