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.