Community Forums

N8gilbert · 04-17-2025, 06:22 PM

Hello, I recently traveled from AZ to FL in our newish to us 2005 Fleetwood Bounder diesel. While we were traveling we

I recently had the grand opportunity of changing the water pump out from the Cat C7 on my 2005 Fleetwood Bounder. This Chassis has several variances so I figured I'd talk about my experience with it.

Backstory, while enroute from AZ to FL the coolant surge tank developed a leak from being aged. I was able to do a temporary fix overnight by covering the dry rotted areas with JB Weld Marine (luckily it was at and above the fill level). This has worked to complete the trip without further incident. The replacement will be installed soon along with a flush, Automann PN# 03-070293 from 4 State trucks.

Back to the water pump, pulling into Pensacola, FL at the rest stop I noticed a belt squeal and fluid coming from engine area. It turned out the fluid was coming from the water pump, specifically it had failed at the pulley input shaft. I ended up deciding to do the repair as this was Friday and my options were to have it towed and get a hotel or wait for a mobile tech on Monday. I got the parts I could from 2 Cat parts dealerships in the area. Prior to starting I had read the recommended replacement steps were to access from the back by taking out the radiator and CAC. I could not do this as I was in the rest stop, so I accessed the area from the back drivers side area and via the engine access in the bedroom. On my unit it was originally the house battery tray which made it... meh... accessible. After removing the air filter, CAC pipe, and unmounting the AC compressor (leaving lines connected) I was able to somewhat access the area. I say somewhat because no part of the repair was great given the circumstances, and this method of access was terrible. Most of the repair is pretty straightforward taking a few parts out and putting them back on after the water pump. The only uncommon tool used was a 1 1/4" wrench and/or socket to move the fittings from the old water pump to the new one. The new pump also had a large Hex Allen plug in it, but I was able to use pliers to remove it. The most difficult single tasks were moving the fittings over to the new pump and getting the 3 mounting bolts to align when reinstalling the AC compressor. I also replaced the 2 regulators (thermostats) while I was in there which are accessed via the topside of engine (make sure you get the gasket). If it were not a roadside repair I would also have replaced the small water pump outlet hose on top of water pump, and the serpentine belt at the least.

So if anyone is curious yes the water pump on the model & engine can be replaced from the side, but in my experience if you have the ability I would do the repair conventionally from the back. The reason I would rather have done the repair conventionally is due to the nature of the part failure, it left tiny metal particles in the system, and I have to flush the system thoroughly anyways, and I have to replace the surge tank also.

Here are the part numbers I used on my particular repair (Cat C7 300hp) and it took me about 10hrs total wrench time.

Water Pump 0R1011
Serpentine belt tensioner 2178938
V-belt 0366775
Regulators (2) 1154223
Gasket for regulator "hat" 2225915

Skip426 · 04-17-2025, 07:07 PM

Luckily my coach has a side radiator ; when my pump was replaced.

A thread about the rear radiator surge tank that maybe helpful.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f26/Freig...ank-39256.html

Notes I have state the part is available from Dorman and P/N 1949536470
fits 2001-07 chassis ,

EDIT: On a reread of the thread in the link ; several of the posts involve side radiator chassis , not rear .

FIRE UP · 04-17-2025, 11:37 PM

N8Gilbert,
Well Sir, I went through ALL of what you did only, I kind-a got lucky. You see, my water pump, on my '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP, decided to start leaking IN MY GARAGE at home! I created a whole thread about it because, in the early stage(s) of investigation, for the life of me, I could not actually see where the leak was coming from.

I was given lots of help and suggestions in my thread as time went on and it wasn't 'till I got half way through the tear down that I actually found the culprit. And yes, it was the water pump. The shaft was moving in and out at least a 1/2" or more. It was enough to cause the water pump pulley to actually contact the back side of the serpentine tensioner pulley and each got polished in the process.

Now, without a doubt, yanking the radiator and the CAC for the replacement of the water pump is SERERIOUSLY better than doing it the way you did. But, I surely see what predicament you were in at the time you did yours so, you did what you had to do in that particular situation. I sure as he... don't envy you in that predicament. Anyway, glad you got things under hand and in (sort-a) control. It's a difficult job, no matter what approach. Not yanking the radiator and CAC is without a doubt, considerably less work.

But, not removing them also causes some really tough access to many components related to the r & r of that water pump. I've had my radiator and CAC out three times in the 13 years of ownership and I've got it down pretty good.
Scott

d23haynes57 · 04-17-2025, 11:58 PM

For the rear radiator rigs the cooling system should probably come out about every 40K miles. Al hoses and pipes should be inspected. At 80K replace the water pump, consider alternator bearings and brushes if that has not yet failed, and the tensioners. The water pump seal is a wear item.

N8gilbert · 04-18-2025, 03:02 AM

Hi Gentleman and thx for the replies, I sure wish the part had failed under better circumstances for sure. It kind of sucked as I was putting it all back together just knowing sooner than later I would gonna need to be back in there to do more maintenance on it. As for the alternator parts, I had not even thought of replacing those! I guess I will be looking those up pretty soon lol, thank you for the heads up on that. Scott, I've read all I could about flushing out the cooking system, but fo you have any pointers from your experience? It reads as though you've got a good bit of experience. I'm getting ready to do a flush and also replace that surge tank.

N8gilbert · 04-18-2025, 03:12 AM

Cooling system, not cooking. Phone auto corrects the most ridiculous things, but then inserts all kinds of other words. Makes it sound like I didn't complete 3rd grade. Dang phones.

d23haynes57 · 04-18-2025, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N8gilbert

Hi Gentleman and thx for the replies, I sure wish the part had failed under better circumstances for sure. It kind of sucked as I was putting it all back together just knowing sooner than later I would gonna need to be back in there to do more maintenance on it. As for the alternator parts, I had not even thought of replacing those! I guess I will be looking those up pretty soon lol, thank you for the heads up on that. Scott, I've read all I could about flushing out the cooking system, but fo you have any pointers from your experience? It reads as though you've got a good bit of experience. I'm getting ready to do a flush and also replace that surge tank.

Unless the cooling system is damaged or compromised not much value in flushing and what do you do to collect and dispose of that wastewater? Now that you have a new water pump you do not want to operate the engine with straight water in there. Drain as best you can. Compressed air or vacuum blower to get out as much as you can. And while it hurts just a little to pay for water fill only with the pre-mix. Use a good ELC Diesel coolant. At this point there will be regular occurrences to open the cooling system. You have a lot of stuff on borrowed time including the radiator and heater core.

FIRE UP · 04-18-2025, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N8gilbert

Hi Gentleman and thx for the replies, I sure wish the part had failed under better circumstances for sure. It kind of sucked as I was putting it all back together just knowing sooner than later I would gonna need to be back in there to do more maintenance on it. As for the alternator parts, I had not even thought of replacing those! I guess I will be looking those up pretty soon lol, thank you for the heads up on that. Scott, I've read all I could about flushing out the cooking system, but fo you have any pointers from your experience? It reads as though you've got a good bit of experience. I'm getting ready to do a flush and also replace that surge tank.

N8,
I myself have never been a big fan of flushing a cooling system, especially in not only todays cooling systems but even quite a few years back. I'm by far no "cooling system" expert, not even close but, in draining some of my systems on various vehicles I've had, I've not seen anything but flawlessly clean anti-freeze come out even if it's been in a system for thousands and thousands of miles and years and years.

In my 2008 Honda Goldwing, I had it for 10 years and only about 38,000 miles and when I drained it for replacement, I put some in a clear glass and put it right next to some brand new stuff of the same type, Honda anti-freeze and looks-wise, if you did one of those magicians deal where you could move the glasses around quickly, and end up asking which was which, there's no way you could tell which was the new and which one was 10 years old.

Now again, that's a simple visual test/comparison. I also did the anti-freeze test with the tester and the old stuff was every bit as good as the new stuff. I hated to replace it but, I'd already made steps to move forward so, no biggie.

Almost the same scenario when I drained the antifreeze from our 118,000 mile C-7 not too long ago. Nothing but pure, spotless high mileage antifreeze came out. Sooooo, with all that crap being said, again, I'm not a big fan of flushing. Especially when it pertains to a three mile long RV. Both my old '11 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 Extended Cab with the 5.3L all aluminum V-8 and, our new 2021 Ram 1500 4x4 Crew Cab Ecodiesel have 150,000 mile antifreeze. What's that tell ya about longevity and flushing??

As for the alternator on these C-7's, well, if I'd have not made a bone-head error in terms of the demand of my original alternator at 115,000 miles, I'd still have it in there. Now, does this mean they ALL would last that long, no, not necessarily. Bearings are bearings. Some can last for zillions of miles and years and some give up the ghost way early in a potential life. The quality of the original bearings in my original alternator must have been OUTSTANDING because even when the Voltage/amperage failed at 115,000 miles, it was still spinning very, VERY quietly and smoothly.

As for the tensioners and idlers, well, there's a matter of opinion and thought process's on those between me and many others. I've been wrenching since before Christ was a pup and have a pretty good idea of what's what in the basic mechanical world. I have replaced the bearings in my serpentine tensioner at least twice. There's TWO bearings in the tensioner and the idler. And they're quite easily replaced. The tension on the tensioner is to this day, still considerably strong. I have zero evidence or signs of any belt slippage on that serpentine belt. I definitely have to put quite a bit of force on my breaker bar to counter the spring tension to allow me to remove that serpentine belt.

There's been lots of opinions on whether or not one should replace the tensioner because it looses tension over time. Well, I've no doubt that it does but, in at least my case(s), mine still makes my serpentine belt almost guitar string tight, even at 118,000 miles and 21 years old! You can make your own decisions on this kind of stuff.

All the peripheral bearings, tensioners, idlers and what not are all quite easily replaced. It's the FAN HUB BEARING that one has to really do some close inspection and testing, even early on in life. I replaced mine I think at around 80,000 to 90,000 if I recall, I'd have to go dig up the records of the change. Now that's a SERIOUS bearing. It's about 2" wide and about 2.5" in diameter if I recall. Good luck and do ask questions if there's a need.
Scott

d23haynes57 · 04-18-2025, 10:29 AM

The big killer for these bearings is lack of use and outside storage. Grease fittings would nice! As for flushing the cooling system, again unless it is contaminated no. If you must you use a hose tee set up or one of those flushing and filtering machines. The engine should never be operated and brought up to temperature on straight water and the system not being able to make pressure, (open cap). The flash rusting and cavitation erosion the outside of the cylinder happens fast. Get a non-seasoned cast iron pan, place some water on the bottom and boil it off. You will see want can happen inside an engine.

Skip426 · 04-18-2025, 10:34 AM

Enough said . LOL

N8gilbert · 04-19-2025, 03:23 AM

Again thanks fellas, as for the flush, I was planning on getting that done due to metal particles I saw in Coolant while changing the water pump. I suspect it's from the shaft banging back and forth as it had a good amount of free play. It was coming out to contact the back of the pulley in front of it (can't remember off-hand which). Should I just do a "drain" of the radiator and engine and close heater core shut-offs? And I know yal may not "techs" per se but experience can mean more than a paper and a good opinion is what I'm looking for.

Thanks a lot, Nate

N8gilbert · 04-19-2025, 03:27 AM

Or would yal just call it good? Because I definitely see the value in not opening as much as possible in these older diesels and their systems. I'm used to being around old farm equipment and the old stuff just runs and runs.

N8gilbert · 04-19-2025, 03:42 AM

D23haynes57, I reread your 1st reply a bit better, and see that (if necessary) you suggest draining and blowing out. I did go pick up 8 gallons of cat elc mix and will be using that.

FIRE UP · 04-19-2025, 10:58 AM

Nate,
We've owned and operated this coach now for over 13 years and 118,000 miles with the C-7 330HP and while I have drained the radiator and immediately area hoses and all that, I have closed off the heater lines that run forward each time I've done that. I've installed new antifreeze each time I've done it but it's only been a couple gallons each time.

I'm sure I've for the most part, eliminated all the original antifreeze from when the coach was new due to retirement/replacement a little each time. While certainly not a *Pro's* way of doing things, it's managed to work just fine for our operations. Your choice on this one.

Without a doubt, each time you perform some sort of radiator maintenance, hose replacement, regulator (T-stats for us old dogs) replacement and more, and drain at least part of the system and replenish it with new antifreeze, you're doing at least some cleansing of the system and providing with new coolant. It's worked for us for 13 years!

As for which pulley your water pump pulley is contacting when the shaft moves in and out, if you read my post above, the front side of that water pump pulley is kissing the backside of the serpentine tensioner pulley. Not the end of the world unless one lets that condition go on for extended periods.
Scott