Hi,
I just bought a 94 Dakota SLT 5.2, that was in need of some mechanical
work. The previous owner said that his kid, a mechanic at a local
Firestone garage, had done all the mechanical work on it previously.
One of the problems the truck has is that the temp slowly rises to
overheating. It takes about 10 minutes of driving for this to happen.
I've replaced the thermostat, and the radiator doesn't look plugged up,
there's no crude floating in the antifreeze. I poured water into the
radiator without the thermostat in place, and it came right up out the
block, so the block isn't plugged up. It does have a shiny new water
pump that I suspect is the problem. Judging by the quality of the other
work done on this truck (each plastic panel in the interior has at least
one screw missing and at least one crack, plastic covers for seat
mechanisms broken and held on with zip-ties, the stock radio was
replaced with a $100 CD player and the air temp door disconnected in the
process (blowing HOT air all the time--fixed now), etc, I'm thinking
this guy put in a water pump designed to rotate in the wrong direction
for this engine. I know the Magnum engines with serpentine belts spin
the water pump in the reverse direction from the pre-Magnum engines, and
the Mopar Performance crate engines use a different water pump than
production engines.
My question is: Is it possible to tell without removing it if it's the
wrong water pump for this application?
Thanks.
Warren
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