What caused this on my water pump?

37chief · Feb 28, 2016

My 96 Dodge ram 3500 with a V10 never cooled like it should ever since it bought it around 6 years ago. Then when the aluminum radiator started leaking I bought a new one. I still had a cooling problem. When the pump started leaking I changed it. It had coolant when I bought it. That's when I noticed the plastic, and metal all eaten away under the pump impeller. The impellor was all complete. I broke the impeller away just to show the damage. I haven't drove it enough to see if I still have a cooling problem, but I doubt I will. Stan

Jerry/MT · Feb 28, 2016

Corrosion. If it was on the impeller, I"d say cavitation.

Duane WI · Feb 28, 2016

The rough pitted area is cavitation. This is caused by the localized fluid pressure right next to the metal surface dropping below the boiling point. The liquid flashes into vapor for a split second and then collapses back to liquid state. You have a continuous series of small liquid to vapor phase changes going back and forth really fast. It erodes the metal surface.

paul · Feb 28, 2016

Would watching the coolant ph help that situation, as with ford tractor engines?

Paul

UAFitter · Feb 28, 2016

That is textbook cavitation damage.

David G · Feb 28, 2016

I agree, looks like cavitation.

Hobo,NC · Feb 28, 2016

I have the same truck at my shop rat now. Its the first V10 I have worked on. Have you ever put a thermostat in yours. I put one in this one what a mess... It was contaminated with a gobbed up substance that resembled large sand crystals. I dug for quite awhile and even removed the seal that's in the manifold were the thermo fits.. I don't understand the themo set up that's in it, its like nuttin I have ever seen.

Got that done and the rad leaked the rad that came out of it like to took to men to remove its full of something. I put a new rad in it all's good except the temp gauge is very active it does not heat the temp checks normal but the gauge will swing toward hot FAST and swing back to normal FAST. Its scary to watch the gauge the onwer says its been like that back as far as he remembers. He totaled it (rolled it over) about 5 years ago and decided to drag it out and get it fixed.

How clean is your system.

Indiana Ken · Feb 28, 2016

I agree..cavitation. Typically it is caused by a restriction on the inlet side, over heating or a high flow condition. High flow can be caused by running without a thermostat. The liquid flashes to vapor (due to low pressure) on the inlet side and the bubbles collapse as the pressure increases on the discharge side. The collaspsing bubbles do the damage.

T in NE · Feb 28, 2016

Wonder if someone dumped dex-cool in it?

BarryfromIA · Feb 28, 2016

This is copied from allpar.com/mopar/v10 A heavy-duty truck engine block cooling system and thermostat minimized low-temperature piston wear and oil consumption by allowing the cylinder walls to warm up gradually and expand uniformly. The truck-type thermostat opened in a smooth continuous manner because it had four times the working area of a passenger car thermostat. A conventional thermostat released bursts of chilled water during warm-up that distorted the cylinder walls and caused wear and high oil consumption. The thermostat had a cylindrical valve element with an O-ring seal to assure smooth consistent operation. It was mounted in a molded plastic housing at the front of the engine.

pete black · Feb 28, 2016

Ken, I worked in a hydro generating plant for 8 years and we had restrictions on operating the units at certain gate opening due to
cavitation: air bubbles would form on the water wheel and the bubbles would literally explode off the face of the wheel. The explosion
would take little flecks of rusted metal off. Over a period of time a great amount of metal was eaten away.

What caused this on my water pump?

37chief

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Jerry/MT

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Duane WI

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paul

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UAFitter

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David G

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Hobo,NC

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Indiana Ken

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T in NE

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BarryfromIA

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pete black

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