red engine looking idiot light on left side of dash

Ryan S

New member
i have a 03 dodge sprinter and the red idiot light flashed on a couple times on the left side of the speedo/gauge cluster, it looks kinda like a engine symbol, but really not sure....any idea what this means? is it just a check engine light??

thankyou
 

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
that's what i'm kinda worried about, how long did your water pump leak before you fixed it??
Don't know for sure, but probably a couple weeks. I was worried about it possibly seizing up and shredding a belt as I have experienced that with other vehicles, but the construction of this one leads me to believe it might not right away as the seal and the bearing are separated from each other and there's ample size holes to relieve the coolant that leaks out, thus somewhat protecting the bearing. I could tell it was leaking because I could see white-ish deposits on surrounding surfaces.
 

220629

Well-known member
I drove my 2004 OM647 locally for at least a few weeks after I determined for certain the leak was the pump shaft. I didn't tow my boat to an event as planned. I'm certain it was leaking for a while before that. I think I topped off the tank once before any fluid began to show drips on the ground. That said, I don't know if the OM647 and OM612 pumps are identical. I suspect they are. A part number search would verify that.

A friend of mine used my OM647 water pump change Write-up to do a pump on a OM612 engine. He didn't mention there being any big differences in procedure between the two. He did say he pulled the fan shroud right out of the way because it was an easy task and gave him better access. Good luck. vic
 

1hen2ducks

2006 SHC & DAD owner
I'm approaching 100,000 miles and think I'll replace before failure.
Easier at home than on the road (dirt) in some inconvenient spot.
Wouldn't replacing hoses be a smart thing to do along with the R&R of the water pump ?

M ?
 

220629

Well-known member
The standard answer is to replace hoses before failure and it's hard to argue against that. I always replace any hoses that go to the engine block. When the engine shuts down the residual heat radiates out and one of the radiators is the hose fittings. My observation is that it seems the hoses often fail right near those fittings while the rest of the hose is fine. I think the heat bakes the elastomers out of the hose in that area. Is "elastomers" a word?

So I always replace any hoses that connect to the engine block as a preemptive strike. If they go from item to item, I inspect them closely and make a decision. Diesels generally run cooler than gassers. YMMV. vic
 
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