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MikeB
Dodge Dakota
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5/19/2010
19:04:29
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 Subject: Strange water pump issue?
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Message:
I'll get right to the point. Last night I thought it would be a good idea to check the coolant level in the radiator. I open it up and it looks a little low. So I add some coolant. Filled it to the top. It dawned on me that I needed to have the engine running because topping it off this way could be deceiving. I wanted to get the engine warm and let it heat up so the thermostat would open up and let me see the full cycle level.....
After 15 minutes I felt uneasy because to my sight there was no coolant "flowing." I grabbed the hose from the thermostat housing to "feel" the water being pumped...nope. Nothing. It was HOT though. A neighbor told me it was most likely the water pump had gone bad since the hose was sooo hot. He reasoned that the thermostat WAS opening and that is why the hose was so hot. Sounded good to me. That was logical.
But I had a real mechanic at my place of work (concrete company, lots of trucks) tell me that if the water pump was working, I would FEEL IT and I would SEE IT flowing. In the radiator, and by feeling the hose. And this is where it gets weird.
He told me if my water pump was not working, I wouldn't have even made it in to work because the truck would have over-heated. Spitting hot water and steam from the radiator, etc. And yet, by sight and feel, I can tell you, NOTHING is pumping, and my truck is NOT overheating. at all.
??????? Can someone give me plausible reasons for this to be happening? I just don't want to ruin my truck. > 95 Dakota.
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jared
Dodge Dakota
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5/19/2010
19:57:31
| RE: Strange water pump issue?
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Message:
the thermostat was not open yet. It can take a bit of time depending on the temperature. Hot to the touch may not have been hot enough to open the thermostat. While it is closed it will appear that the coolant isn't flowing. I've never heard of a water pump go bad and just stop pumping water the way you thought it had.
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MikeB
Dodge Dakota
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5/19/2010
20:07:00
| RE: Strange water pump issue?
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Message:
I thought of that too....so today at lunch I drove the truck home. Mid-day. 80 degrees outside, drove 65 mph all the way home (15 miles)
Pulled into the driveway, DID NOT turn off the engine. I grabbed a towel and opened the radiator cap AGAIN to see if the coolant was flowing. Nope!! I grabbed the hose AGAIN to see if I could feel the water surge as I let go.NOPE!!
It was a hot day, I drove 15 miles going 65mph. I'm not a mechanic, but I'm pretty sure that's far enough ON A HOT DAY to make the thermostat open up and at least let me feel the surge of water as I released the hose, but no. Didn't happen. Nor was any "flowing" visable in the radiator itself.
So...like I said, it's strange. It appears and feels to be NOT PUMPING, but yet, I'm not overheating at all. This was 65 mph on the Highway. No stopping. Surely that got it hot enough to let things "flow." Right?????
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fotodak
Dodge Dakota
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5/19/2010
20:32:35
| RE: Strange water pump issue?
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Message:
You won't see the water flowing across the radiator if you have it filled to the neck.
If you drain some coolant out to where the level is just above the radiator tubes you will see the flow across the core.
If your water pump isn't working you would have melted down the engine by now.
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