Cummins 5.9 water pump repalcement

[BravoXray]

A good friend showed up at my shop on Sunday afternoon with his 1996 Dodge 2500, which was leaking coolant in a good little stream. He wanted to know if he could leave it here until he could get it to a shop to get the water pump replaced. I asked if I could look at it, and he popped the hood. The water pump on a 5.9 Cummins is on the upper right side of the block, below the alternator. Looked pretty easy to change, so I told him I would do it for him.
I took more time to get the tools together than it did to get the pump out. Take the belt off, take out two 5/16" bolts, bump it loose with my hand and wiggle it up and out. Easy peazy.
I got a new pump from NAPA for $57.00 on Monday, and put it back in yesterday. It took longer to refill the coolant than to put the pump back in.
That was without a doubt the easiest water pump replacement I've ever done. The worst was on an old 1693 CAT truck engine in a Peterbilt cabover. It had several large hoses and four smaller hoses that went to it, the bolts that held it on were nearly impossible to get to, was wedged in between the engine and frame rail, had three fan belts driving it, and the pump must have weighed 70 pounds. Fortunately I only ever had to change three of them, but that was three too many. The pumps on 3406 and C15 CATs are much easier to change.

 

[deserteagle71]

The water pumps on that vintage Cummins are a known weakness; I've already had to change the one on my 2004 with only 60,000 miles on it. But as you say, it is an easy job. I now carry a spare in the truck...even on the road changing it should take only a few minutes.

 

[nisaacs]

The water pumps on that vintage Cummins are a known weakness;

Not for the original, only some of the replacements. My '01 went 288k and the '91 went 330k, my Ford Cummins is still original (1990).

I replaced the '01 with a Car Quest, only lasted 30k. I have a Napa now.

Now, if you have a 4th gen, then yes, there was a recall on them. Seems Cummins changed vendors and got a bad batch. I think some of the 3rd gens had trouble early too.

 

[pmsmechanic]

The water pumps on that vintage Cummins are a known weakness.

My 1998 has never had the water pump replaced. It has 420,000 km's/261,000 miles. My 1990 has been replaced once. 800,000 km's/500,000 miles.

 

[Hay Dude]

Too bad they threw the 5.9 and the simplicity that came with them overboard.
Fortunately there’s still millions of them out there.
Love the 8.3 in my Case-IH. Unsure about my 6.7’s pump situation. Lots of rumors & speculation about the CP4.

 

[ptsg]

Too bad they threw the 5.9 and the simplicity that came with them overboard.
Fortunately there’s still millions of them out there.
Love the 8.3 in my Case-IH. Unsure about my 6.7’s pump situation. Lots of rumors & speculation about the CP4.

As usual, Emissions is what killed many many great and reliable engines...

Cummins 5.9, Most Deutz Aircooled engines and a lot more that I'm forgetting.

 

[timswi]

Had to replace a water pump on my 1989 Suburban..Think it was a Detroit Diesel if memory serves. Flat rate was 8 hrs...They weren't wrong. What a nightmare that was for something that should have been fairly easy.

 

[5030]

Read that Ford is shutting down plants due to parts issues. All about getting it cheap and selling it steep. Gonna bite them, looks like it is.

 

[blee03]

I’ve done a few water pumps on my old 5.9’s and my current 6.7.... I’ve heard horror stories about aftermarket units so I’ve always bit the bullet and bought oem genuine Cummins water pumps. ($200)

 

[deserteagle71]

Read that Ford is shutting down plants due to parts issues. All about getting it cheap and selling it steep. Gonna bite them, looks like it is.

Not just Ford but all of the manufacturers. The holdup is the "chips" - the electronics that run everything these days - and every vehicle manufacturer uses the same ones so that's why they are all affected. I've been side-by-side shopping and their manufacturers are suffering from the same problem. My local Polaris dealer normally has around 40-50 in stock. Last time I checked he had 4.

 

[Snobdds]

Read that Ford is shutting down plants due to parts issues. All about getting it cheap and selling it steep. Gonna bite them, looks like it is.

Weird and random with no real point that is backed by fact.

Good job.

 

[Hay Dude]

Weird and random with no real point that is backed by fact.

Good job.

Actually, it’s not weird or random and it is backed up by facts

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2021/07/02/ford-to-shut-down-its-chicago-explorer-plant-for-t.html

Ford to shut some North American plants for weeks over chip shortage - Autoblog

Ford announced several North American factories will be shut for weeks in July and August due to a semiconductor shortage. Here are the affected models.

www.autoblog.com

Ford confirms further downtime at North America plants due to chip shortage

A Ford spokesperson said the automaker is prioritizing completing vehicles that were assembled without certain parts due to the chip shortage.

www.detroitnews.com

And IMO, 5030 is right. Auto manufacturers are run by bean counters who sit around and fight with each other about saving 5 cents on a part from China.
Now their chickens are coming home to roost.

 

[5030]

I think I'd be real leery about buying a new vehicle once the chip thing is ironed out. Not that I would anyway, Cannot afford one.

 

[5030]

I think I'd be real leery about buying a new vehicle once the chip thing is ironed out. Not that I would anyway, Cannot afford one.

Well, I can but I won't pay 60 grand plus for something that is really worth about 10 grand. Me, I'm an off lease buyer. I let the leaser take the hit and buy them for 1/2 price. I love Ford's 'New every 2' deal. Bought the last 3 like that. 2 year off lease, balance of factory warranty, Red Carpet buys.

 

[5030]

Now their chickens are coming home to roost.

Fords, GM and Stellantis have partial built vehicles stacked up like cordwood all around Toledo in various lots, Never seen so many Jeeps in the old Northtowne mall parking lot, must be thousands sitting there in the hot sun.

Have to shut down, cannot keep building them, no room left. Fords Wayne Assembly is the same, using employee parking space now to store them.

Think about all the ethanol gas in them getting rancid too.

 

[MoKelly]

Actually, it’s not weird or random and it is backed up by facts

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2021/07/02/ford-to-shut-down-its-chicago-explorer-plant-for-t.html

Ford to shut some North American plants for weeks over chip shortage - Autoblog

Ford announced several North American factories will be shut for weeks in July and August due to a semiconductor shortage. Here are the affected models.

www.autoblog.com

Ford confirms further downtime at North America plants due to chip shortage

A Ford spokesperson said the automaker is prioritizing completing vehicles that were assembled without certain parts due to the chip shortage.

www.detroitnews.com

And IMO, 5030 is right. Auto manufacturers are run by bean counters who sit around and fight with each other about saving 5 cents on a part from China.
Now their chickens are coming home to roost.

That may all be true, but Fords stock is almost 3x what is was a year ago.

And, that is how they get paid.

Rather than chickens coming home, they may believe the golden goose came home.

MoKelly

 

[Hay Dude]

That may all be true, but Fords stock is almost 3x what is was a year ago.

And, that is how they get paid.

Rather than chickens coming home, they may believe the golden goose came home.

MoKelly

Agree. Great times for them.
I was referring to the unpredictability that comes with outside sourced assemblies and parts.

 

[MoKelly]

Agree. Great times for them.
I was referring to the unpredictability that comes with outside sourced assemblies and parts.

Yes - 100% correct. I also blame all auto manufacturers for having such few suppliers and no contingency plan.

How can any business allow themselves to be shutdown by a few international suppliers.

It’s incompetence.

Then again, it’s the same fools who went bankrupt and had to be bailed out. Can you imagine US car manufactures being stupid enough to actually go bankrupt? Hard for me to fathom.

MoKelly

 

[grsthegreat]

I replaced my 1994 cummins water pump about 8-10 years ago. RiG has 330,000 miles on it. Thats the only pump i had to replace on it. Very easy replacement.

on the same Rig i just fixed a vacuum leak that was driving me crazy. Every time i came to a stop id lose all vacuum, breaks were hard to press, and the doors on ac unit closed and would not allow air to enter cab. And it was 108°.

went to 2 repair shops. One said 94 dodge had knows vacuum pump failures...estimates replacement cost $1,200. The second shop said hed have to trace all vacuum lines...and there are a heck of alot of them. He said hed have to pull dash, etc. cost est was upwards of $800-1000.

so i took it home and hit the internet. Found out where vac pump was and started tracing tubes by wetting finger and running engine. Found leak in 2 minutes. A line was rubbing on master cylinder. I cut it and pushed new end into fitting after rerouting around master cylinder. Truck runs like new. Even transmission shifts better. Id like to go kick that first guys butt. But im too nice.

 

[deserteagle71]

Then again, it’s the same fools who went bankrupt and had to be bailed out. Can you imagine US car manufactures being stupid enough to actually go bankrupt? Hard for me to fathom.

MoKelly

Absolutely it is incompetence and stupidity.

Nevada is the 7th largest state in the Nation, going by land area. Some years ago GM arrogantly decided that they would close all their "rural" dealerships and make the buyers come to the big city if they wanted to buy a GM product. Nearest town to me had two GM dealerships - one sold Chevys, the other GMCs and Buicks and Cadillacs. GM closed both of them. Next town, same story. Now if you live in Nevada there are 3 places to buy a GM product. Las Vegas. Or 450 miles north in the Reno area or about the same to Elko, Nevada. Or if you are hard core GM you can drive to Salt Lake City, 520 miles from Reno.

GM's bean counters figured they would really help GM's bottom line by closing dealerships!? So now when you drive Nevada highways you see mainly Fords and Rams. Wonder why? I USED to own two GM vehicles but with no dealerships nearby now I own Ford and Dodge also.