2004 Ram coolant leak question.

I have 2004 hemi ram. I've had a slow coolant leak for a while now. I figured I was going to need a new waterpump. Today I had a big puddle under the truck so I really took a good look and saw that coolant was dripping from the bottom bolt on the flange where the hose connects to the thermostat housing on the pump. It's dripping about every 5 seconds or so.
What course of action should I take? Do you think it's just a gasket or am I going to need a whole new pump. Dealer wants $660 to do the pump. Not sure I want to try and tCkle it myself.

Its hard to know because the coolant can leak in one place and show up another. That said, it wouldn't hurt nor cost too much to replace the gasket (or O ring) first to see if that clears it up.

Seems like Hemi's need a water pump around 150k. But $600 ouch! I would look for another shop if it needs a water pump.

Mine only has 73,000 miles. Yea I called a couple places and none were under $600.

I have an 2011 ram 1500 with a hemi. I've had it about a year, then the other day I noticed water under the front of the truck. Yes it was antifreeze. Climbed under and found the hose flange that bolts to the thermostat housing was leaking. Took a few minutes of watching and STRONG flashlight. Went to the parts store, another tale in itself, but got a gasket that said it was for 07 hemi, I believe. I took the flange off, it has a thermostat that looks like the gasket is made with it. But there wasnt a "normal" flat gasket in there. So, I put a little rtv sealer on the gasket and bolted it back together. No more leak. By the way, I couldn't get any antifreeze to come out of the drain in the radiator, got frustrated, and just took the flange off. Only leak I had, there is small hole in the thermostat to let fluid thru. Really only fluid I lost was in the hose.

Cost me 6.00 for the gasket and 30 minutes of my time.

Not saying that is your exact problem, but this is what I found.

This is pretty much what we ended up doing. Seems it was leaking at the flange due to a bad hose. Took it apart. Bought a new hose and a new thermostat and put it back together. Seems to be ok so far. We'll see in the morning.

Thanks for the responses.

Common for t/stat gasket(seal) to leak.

The thermostat leak seems to happen to most people when we start having cold nights. It will weep at night. I think it has to do with the dis-similar metals of the steel water neck and aluminum housing.

The OE water pumps only seem to last to 150K (give or take 20K). The aftermarket pumps only seem to go 50K. I've had to do 2 on my 2004.

Also, the radiators seem to develop cracks in the plastic side tanks. I think it has to do with the offset mounting position. With any chassis/ body flex, strain gets put on those tanks. I had to replace the rad twice in my 04 Ram 5.7.

Never had any overheating issues just slow coolant loss and the occasional coolant smell at the front of the truck after shutoff.