T1N 647 Engine Water Pump Replacement

[NorthLink]

I'm wondering if I should replace my water pump?
When I turn on my auxillary heater/espar, and select the heat pump button (9 oclock on switch that also has the A/C button), I can smell antifreeze/coolant and then the window fogs up with a film of antifreeze.
I remember seeing something about a gasket kit for the espar heater, but I can't find the thread.
I'm at the point where I really need to be able to heat up the van full bore, but I'm not sure what to do. I guess I'll just bring it in to my mechanic (very trustworthy fellow), and say pull it apart and fix it - replace the water pump if necessary.
The van has 320K miles on it and it will get another 80-100 next year, so maybe I should just do it?
Thanks,
George

PS: What is the best place to get a water pump and/or gasket kit for the espar?

[NorthLink]

I found the link for the espar kit and will try that first.

New question: how common is a water pump replacement - how often to expect to replace? Or what should I look for as signs that I'd need a new one?

Thanks everyone

[Dougflas]

They leak frequently is my opinion. I drive 2 2005's and both leaked less than 100k miles. My personal van had 71k on it. The dealer said it was under the 100k warranty so I paid a deductible of $100. I couldn't buy the pump that cheap. The other was just a hair over 100k miles and the Sheriff's Office (my employer) was charged $575. total job.

My personal van took the technician 3 hrs. to do the replacement. I waited in the customer lounge for it.

[Autophysn]

Originally Posted by Dougflas

They leak frequently is my opinion. I drive 2 2005's and both leaked less than 100k miles. My personal van had 71k on it. The dealer said it was under the 100k warranty so I paid a deductible of $100. I couldn't buy the pump that cheap. The other was just a hair over 100k miles and the Sheriff's Office (my employer) was charged $575. total job.

My personal van took the technician 3 hrs. to do the replacement. I waited in the customer lounge for it.

Yeah, it is not that bad. I take an entire shift to do the job, but that is because I work for a fleet. Reliability is everything in my line of work, so everyhting gets replaced while I am in there.
So far, I have gotten over 100k miles on every pump I have done. They sure did not give you much room to work on the engine, LOL!

Anyway, Sounds like a great price to me.

Oh, one more thing. I am aware that the Sprinters will have a major cavatation issue if the coolant is not proper. It should be long life (some sort of a pink, orange, purple, etc color--Not green) and the levels should test out to a freeze protection of atleast -37degrees f, and nitrite ppm of around 1200.

I am not on here often, but seems like many people here are very knowledgable. Great forum for owners!!!!!

[talkinghorse43]

Originally Posted by Autophysn

Oh, one more thing. I am aware that the Sprinters will have a major cavatation issue if the coolant is not proper. It should be long life (some sort of a pink, orange, purple, etc color--Not green) and the levels should test out to a freeze protection of atleast -37degrees f, and nitrite ppm of around 1200.

I noticed what could be cavitation damage (looked like some small grains had been picked out of the metal of the timing cover) the last time I changed the water pump on mine. It was on the suction side of the pump in a passage in the timing cover that seemed to be flowing from the vicinity of the oil cooler. The suction passage from the radiator looked new. Can't say the damage was severe, but it was concentrated on the corners of the casting in the damaged passage. I can say that the quality of the coolant I used (don't know about the OEM fill, that was a bluish green) has always been on spec G05 at the 50/50 concentration. But, I have never had it analyzed for nitrite content. Is there a vendor you can recommend for nitrite testing?

[cahaak]

Well I finally replaced my water pump just over a week ago. It has been leaking ever since I got the van about 2 years ago and I just lived with adding new G05 and distilled water to it. Could be because the fan clutch was bad, but I think it got damaged slightly just after I got the van when it was totaled and they just didn't fix it. It started upping the appetite a while back and I had already gotten the water pump (Gates). So I just waited until the weather was warm enough to get it done in the driveway between baseball evaluations.

Here are a couple of pics of the old water pump - just about 50K of leakage will do this I guess.

Water pump 1 small.jpg

Water pump 2 small.jpg

Anyway, just a few add ons to the other posts.

Remove the fan and then remove the plastic radiator shroud, all you have to do there is unclip a couple of hoses and you can work it right out of the top, gives you a lot more room to work on.
After draining, remove the water pump with the outlet manifol completely intact.
I actually had the most trouble getting one of the hoses off the water pump outlet - the upper one. It just did not want to let go even with the clamp loosened and up the hose.
Swap the outlet manifold over to the new pump and reuse the gasket and tighten it completely with the pump out.
My major issue - I used the gasket that came with the new pump. It is a fiber board type of gasket. Well, I either got a fold in it or something because when I put the new pump back on the sucker leaked all over even after just refilling it (not even starting the engine). (I did not swear once, but it sure was frustrating).
So, drain and remove pump again. I had the old gasket and I took it in the house and cleaned it off real good. This gasket is coated metal and much stiffer. Use it and everything worked out just great.
I washed of the Serp. belt and the whole front of the engine where all the gunk was coated and collected. Nice and clean now.
Put the Serp. belt back on and the Aux AC belt and topped it off and fired it up. No leaks of any kind. I'm a happy camper now and the pump was $89 I think, we will see how long it lasts. I reused most of the old coolant and then topped off with new G05 and DI water. Checked the serp belt once I put it back on and it is running very smoothly, really no wiggle or jitter at all. It is running great and looking forward to a summer of kid hauling and camping.

Chris

[Ciprian]

I hope it lasts longer than my 2 aftermarket pumps did. Both of them lasted less than 20k before the seal started leaking (one of them was only 12k if I remember correctly) . The third one I bought at the dealer, been good for about 150k. Only OEM water pumps and belt tensionners for me. I had bad luck with an aftermarket tensionner also.

[cahaak]

I'll definitely let you know how long it lasts. Hopefully a long time. Really should not be rocket science here, but who knows. At least I got a good learning experience out of this one and am comfortable changing it for the next time. Just hope it doesn't go 2K miles from home - although I do bring along all the extra fluids on my long trips.

Chris

[NelsonSprinter]

Originally Posted by NorthLink

I'm wondering if I should replace my water pump?
When I turn on my auxillary heater/espar, and select the heat pump button (9 oclock on switch that also has the A/C button), I can smell antifreeze/coolant and then the window fogs up with a film of antifreeze.

Fogging and antifreeze smell are signs of a leaking interior heating system . not an outside pump. The hose to the heater condensor/rad fins or heat exchanger may be leaking inside.

[SRT]

Today I began what will be a pretty big project - installing a new water pump, EGR, O2 sensor, idler and tensioner - and also having the turbo rebuilt on my '04 2500.

Some great info here! I already have the radiator loose, and have removed the turbo to drop it off at the rebuilder tomorrow.

Does anyone have any pics related to removing the fan from the water pump? I've removed them from my NCV3s before (I don't miss those pieces of junk) but the T1N appears to be a totally different setup.