Hey guys, I just hit 97k on the odometer, I am going to replace the timing belt, tensioner, serpentine etc myself, but am thinking of not doing the water pump this time. Only reason being the CRD is (temporarily) the only vehicle in the family and I want to get it done quickly and not have to worry about renting/finding the cam locking tool and taking more time than necessary. If the water pump does fail later on I will at least have the experience to go back in and do it a lot quicker/more efficiently.

Question is - how many cases are there out there of people on the original water pump having it fail on them? Im assuming it will leak before anything else and I will notice it before it has the chance to do any damage correct?

Secondary question - My engine temp always sits at just over the quarter mark and takes a while to get there, only gets close to middle point if I am going up a long hill, so I think my thermostat must have failed, I am going to replace that too. I noticed some people have gotten the 192 degree mod'd thermostat, but I can't find the reason, what is the advantage over a stock one? Slightly warmer operating temps, is the theory better gas mileage? If so any hard data on that? Just curious.

Thanks
Dave

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2006 CRD Stock with ORM and a clean MAP (always)

The only catastrophic water pump failures I recall was related to bearing failure on a Crown water pump. Bearings are funny things; unless you get a bad one they tend to run a loong time as long as the seals stay good. To the extent I've seen posts on water pump "failures" it's been the typical fluid leaking. The down side of that is the leak is likely to only show up on the bottom of the inner timing belt cover above the front skid which makes it really hard to find. Bottom line is you pays your money/time and takes your chances. I know some have had the OEM pump start to leak not long after a 100K TB change but others have had no problem. FYI if you do go ahead and do the pump replacement now be sure to use Sir Sam's front half only replacement as that takes care of all the moving parts and avoids the hassle of several very hard to reach bolts.

Your temp readings are a classic tstat failed open symptom. Options:
1. inline tstat in the upper radiator hose. I've participated in that discussion but am not a big fan of the idea. If you do go this route be sure to clamp the inline in the hose up near the OEM tstat outlet so it doesn't migrate to the radiator core intake flange and drill a 1/8" or so hole in the inline tstat skirt if it doesn't already have one. The hole is an old timer's trick to prevent catastrophic overheating if a tstat fails closed but in this case what is does is smooth out the coolant warm up by faking the system into acting like the OEM tstat is bypassing coolant to the block like it should when the engine is cold while properly leaking some coolant to the radiator. Once the inline opens up things act like normal.
2. same as above but use the Meziere WN0072 Inline Thermostat Housing for the install instead of inside the hose. Otherwise same comments as above.
3. OEM tstat replacement. If you go this route be advised the lower back bolt is a challenge due to a hump or some such in the manifold. Use a 1/4" socket and wobble extension to avoid the problem. You cannot drain all the coolant out of the system by gravity but you can do several drain/fill/run engine for 3 minutes and repeat like 3 times with demineralized water to get most all of the old coolant out. Do a final drain, leaving the valve on the top passenger side of the radiator open, fill from the coolant tank on the firewall with ca. 6.6qts of Xerox G-05 or Mopar HOAT antifreeze (coolant system amount is inconsistent in the manuals but I'm pretty sure it's 13.2qts so that fill gives you a 50/50 mix), top off with demineralized water, until fluid comes out of that radiator valve, burp the upper radiator hose, redo top off, close valve, add water to coolant tank to about 3/4" above midline, replace coolant tank cap, do 2-3 drive cycles (cold to operating temp and back) and recheck fluid level (should go to about tank midline as air bleeds out of the system).
4. Kap's modified tstat housing but he is in OZ and way behind on building them.

If you go with options 1, 2, or 4 a 190-195F tstat is best per GDE as that gets engine operating temp into a bit warmer and better combustion range than the OEM tstat which is ca. 180F. I can tell you that my bad OEM tstat cost me ca. 1-2 mpg in town during the cooler months when, running with heat and/or not AC, my temp gauge sat at 3/8ths.

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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

Ahhh ha! This fits my CRD to a tee. I sit around 3/8ths up the temp gauge during normal driving and I have noticed that when the temperature drops below ~60-65F I start seeing worse gas mileage. Thanks for the detailed post

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

If you do go the OEM route I would add:
1. to drain the system on a cold engine - open the radiator cap on the firewall coolant tank, open the drain valve on the bottom passenger side of the radiator (squeeto has a good post with pics and a neat tool at viewtopic.php?f=98&t=64568 although you really don't need to remove the air filter box), when coolant tank is empty open top radiator valve to speed the rest of the drain.
2. the tstat gasket will stick to the block. Using a backed razor blade scraper (like the blades that fit this http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0099 or a double edge razor blade with duct tape on one edge) you can carefully scrape/cut the old gasket off. Be gentle as the surface you are working on is soft aluminum. On reinstall a bit of RTV black helps hold the new gasket in place.
3. pay close attention to the several hoses you have to undo so you get them back right. At least one member temporarily killed heat by swapping hose end locations.

Personally I'm fine with the OEM tstat but annoyed by the stupid CAD over complicated and over engineered design and eagerly await Kap's replacement. My son, stoutdog, has one of Kap's and it's great.

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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

Thanks very much for the detailed reply. I love when the cars I own have such active and dedicated forums. Yeah anything I can do to increase mileage I am excited to do. After the ORM and cleaning the MAP I can get 29mpg highway on a tank if I drive like a grandma an average 65ish (though people around me get annoyed heh) but more typically I am getting 24-26. As soon as I start drive city though it drops to 18-20ish no matter how slowly I accelerate. Hoping the thermostat helps a bit. I also plan to get the GDE reflash eventually.

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2006 CRD Stock with ORM and a clean MAP (always)

FYI, on the thermostat, IDParts has an oem-style for MUCH less than a mopar-OEM model can be obtained:
http://idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=29_109&products_id=3308

Dan

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2005 Silver CRD Limited
245/75R16 GoodYear Duratracs
Fumoto drain | ProVent CCV Filter
Stanadyne FM100 filter | Cummins fuel pump
GDE Eco | SEGR | BoulderBars | FrankenLift | Frankenskids

I used the Meziere WN0072 Inline Thermostat Housing with a 195* thermostat and it has been working flawlessly for about 1-1/2 years now, never had a temperature overshoot issue like some have reported even with no "bypass hole" drilled into the rim of the tstat. I originally drilled a small hole, I believe 1/8", but when the weather cooled off there was enough coolant flowing through that small hole to significantly delay warmups and temp would start to drop if sitting at an idle. Plugging the hole I drilled solved the problems.

I just did my timing belt replacement about 3 weeks ago and replaced the water pump as part of the job. If I had known the original pump was going to be in as good shape as it was, I wouldn't have spent the money on a new one. But to do the tear down and then find out the pump needed replacement was not an option. The original pump showed no signs of leakage, shaft bearing was smooth with no play. I saved the pump along with the timing belt idlers and tensioner which also looked and felt fine.

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2011 Ram 2500 6.7L Cummins Deleted w/MiniMaxx G56 HDD 5W-30 & Bypass Oil Filter
2005 Liberty CRD Limited (Cracked Block) Sold
2015 Cherokee Latitude 3.2L V6 (Replaced CRD)
1992 Dodge Stealth RT Twin Turbo Pearl White/Black Leather
2008 Kubota GR2110 Diesel
2006 Key West 186 Sportsman w/135HP Honda OB
1943 Farmall H Restored

If your water pump fails, the pistons hit the valves. Get the German one from ID. It is OEM quality. How many water pumps last 200K miles?

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

X2. Agree with Doc on this. Mine at 90 k was ok but definitely showing some play.

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Grid power- the one true essential

2005 Liberty CRD- ARP studs, Fumoto, Hayden FC, inline Tstat, ETechno 7v GP, Platinum P1, in-tank lift pump.
1983 Volvo D24T
1981 Volvo D24
Dodge Cummins TD
Case 580B
Mitsubishi MT180 diesel
Kubota BX25 diesel