The part that the viscous heater bolts to broke. The lower bolt on the viscous heater was missing. The viscous torqued and broke the bracket the upper bolt goes through. The part that both bolts thread into broke. It's the "ear" the upper bolt threads into that snapped off. I tried welding it back on which is no easy feat because its aluminum and a tight fit. Now the ear is welded on but the viscous heater, bracket, and bolts are not lining up.

What does the viscous bolt to? Is it a plate that all of the accessories bolt to? Is it possible to take the viscous heater out of the pulley system and use a smaller belt?

Scroll down on the link below and you will see pictures of the engine in various stages of disassembly so you can see what it is supposed to look like. I think there is a parts list somewhere, but I could not find it quickly.

http://colorado4wheel.com/content/KJ_TB.html (Good to read the whole guide, ASAP.)

Parts can be ordered from local dealer or cheaper from online MOPAR dealers.

Good Luck!

DOC

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2005 KJ CRD Ltd Detroit TrueTrac Bilsteins G2 GDE "HOT" ECU GDE TCM "Tow Tune" "euro" TC SEGR Weeks Elbow New HG at 130K ARPs Clean CAT aFe Filter Magnaflow Exhaust EHM Cumminos In-Tank Lift Pump Hayden Fan Clutch Nylon Fan VH Enabled with GDE lower shutoff point Recalibrated Temp Gauge Tekonsha Prodigy Sears P-1 ZDDP

Absent a picture I'm not sure but it sounds like what broke off is the tab at the upper right side of the viscous heater where the viscous bolts and where there is a "L" shaped bracket that bolts to the thermostat housing. If so I think, you would have to get input from someone who has done the water pump job, that tab is part of the engine front housing that has to be removed to get at the water pump. If so it's replaceable and I think LMWatBullRun might have a spare from a dead engine.

Shorter belt. Don't know but looking at the belt routing it might be possible if you went over, instead of under, the left idler pulley which should provide a straight shot at the power steering pump pulley and clear the serp belt tensioner at least when it's under tension. At least when I put a straight edge in there it appears like this might work. Of course you would have to remove the engine lift hook to go over that idler and I don't have a clue as to belt length.

If you go the shorter belt route please post belt length and how well it works as that might be of interest to anyone who has a viscous bearing die in such a manner as to require replacement or removal of the viscous. The viscous is marginally useful for its design purpose at best so removal is an option if the belt can be worked out.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

I don't think that running the grooved side of that belt against that idler is such a good idea which would mean looking for grooved pulley. Of course, this may not be so bad because it may give us a chance to optimise for clearance and belt length if we can find a suitably sized pulley.

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duh, had not thought about the grooves I knew there must have been a reason I had a nagging worry about the belt staying on the idler but not why the worry but with a bit poking around on the web it's not too hard to find grooved idler pulleys although I did not check for size but even slightly larger one wouldn't hurt as 1) that can be accommodated based on belt length and 2) it would give a bit more serp belt idler clearance

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Yeah the L shaped bracket broke and the tab the upper bolt threads into. I successfully welded the L shaped bracket and unsuccessfully welded the tab.

From the pictures it looks like the viscous bolts to the water pump. Does that look right?

Viscous heater bolts to a bracket coming off of the Thermostat through to the Water Pump and there's another hard connection directly to the Water Pump.

You're going to have to go deeper and replace the water pump, at least the front half of it.

Theres really no way to do that without removing the timing belt, removing the cam sprockets, etc.

Sorry man, it's a big job, you might as well be doing your timing belt all over again.

How on earth did you break it again?

Did you recently have a timing belt job done? I'm guessing someone didn't torque those bolts back to factory specs if they did the Water pump, or even if they didn't do the water pump when they removed the Viscous heater and replaced it....

Sorry man, if you were close I could help. A shorter belt isn't going to work man, sorry.

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Silver 2006 KJ 2.8L CRD Limited:
GDE ECO Tune / Fumoto Valve / E-Tecno GX3123 7v Glow Plugs / 2nd Gen Fuel Head / Mishimoto RED Hoses / Rockers/Lifters @ 114k / Hayden FC + 11 Blade Nylon / Sears P1 Battery / Transgo 45RFE-HD2 Reprogramming Kit / Timken Front Bearings

I had the timing belt and water pump done not too long ago. The lower bolt on the viscous was missing and then the tab and bracket broke. I dont know if the guy who did the job did not tighten down the bolts to spec or didnt put it back in.

He either overtightened or undertightened or omitted. Any way you play it, I'd be going after him/her/them.

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Silver 2006 KJ 2.8L CRD Limited:
GDE ECO Tune / Fumoto Valve / E-Tecno GX3123 7v Glow Plugs / 2nd Gen Fuel Head / Mishimoto RED Hoses / Rockers/Lifters @ 114k / Hayden FC + 11 Blade Nylon / Sears P1 Battery / Transgo 45RFE-HD2 Reprogramming Kit / Timken Front Bearings