Thought I had the leak fixed, nope, water pump is bad, leaking like crazy now.

Does this webpage seem accurate for replacing the water pump on a 99' 5.2 Durango? It doesn't seem to mention removing the air conditioning unit, which seems like it would be in the way.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Dodge-Repair-809/2009/1/Dodge-Durango-2000-water.htm

If its anything like the dakotas which it should be, you can leave the ac lines connected and unbolt the pump, then flip it out of the way with the lines connected. just set it on a blanket or something as not to scratch up your body panels, oh and make sure you disconnect the battery cable.
its pretty easy to do as long as your bolts are not frozen in place.

I think it can be done with the AC compressor installed, but it's way easier if you move it out of the way.
Replace the bypass hose (with screw clamps) and thermostat while you're in there.

if you are going to use screw clamps on the bypass hose make sure you look at the a/c bracket so you install clamp so it doesn't interfere with a/c bracket when putting it back on.

the whole front of the engine comes off pretty easy. as said above, just don't take the a/c lines off.
4 bolts pull the compressor.
2 bolts pull the alt
then like 4 more to pull the bracket.

then you can get to it all really easy.
done it enough times without power tools, I can pull the accessories off in under 15 min.

make sure to replace that bypass hose and clamps,,
you can put reg screw type clamps on it
woork better and easy to puy on

The hardest part is getting the clamps off the by pass hose.To remove the fan I use my air chisel with a nice flat chisel.Put it on a nut flat and give it a few bumps.Just leave the belt on while you do it.Once it breaks loose they spin right off.Rocky

Man, send me all the spring clamps ya got. I LOVE the way they look and last. Sure you need a technique to deal with them, but they don't need to be gone over in the colder months, install them and forget them. One of later mopars big mistakes is using worm clamps instead of spring clamps on trans cooler lines. They leak ALOT.

I got the whole job done this evening. The only problem is I'm unsure of how to properly tighten the big nut that attaches the fan to the water pump pulley???
Is there an affordable tool? We made a tool to fit the tiny holes in the old water pump pulley to hold it in place while tightening, but the holes in the new pulley were in a different location so our tool wouldn't work.

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http://www.toolsource.com/spanner-wrench-p-101293.html


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I just use my air chisel to tighten them.Just the opposite of gettin it loose.That and they turn to the right so they pretty much self tighten as the pump turns.Just make sure its threaded all the way down.Had one at the shop that wasnt tightened tight by a tech.After it ran for a while to open the stat.I tried to tighten it with the <Tool> thats made to tighten them.It was already tight.I never used the proper tool for them.Just my air chisel.Rocky

Thanks guys I got it all done. Only leak I had when done was the new metal tube on top of the water pump, it was from Advance auto parts. I removed it, put sealer on it and bent the bracket so it stayed all the way down when bolted on.

Is there a trick to draining the radiator with that plastic pet [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] on the drivers side? It turned a 1/4 turn, but no fluid came out. I figured it's either clogged or I'm doing something wrong.

The word Petcock got edited.

I had a bunch of them get pluged.I just pull the lower rad hose.It empties the rad better and faster.I also had a few strip and then you need a new one or they wont seal.Rocky