water pump Dakota - by pass tube STUCK!!!

Yeah, that was a bitch on a friend's '98 Ram, too. It's pressed in with an O-ring. I'd try a pipe wrench on it, try and get it to turn inside the pump (to break loose the corrosion that's holding it in place). It's too late now, but there are aftermarket pumps available with a threaded hold for a threaded hose nipple, which eliminates both the problem of re-using the old tube, and the very good possibility of a leak when re-installing it.

If the old pump is out, and it's trash anyway, you could try splitting the neck, where the tube presses in, with a Dremel. Be careful not to cut too deep that you damage the tube.

At worst case, a new bypass tube is $10 from NAPA (part# 6601692). Don't drive yourself crazy...

Put it in the freezer overnight, then hit it with heat...the housing side that is.

That's what I did. The cost of a new tube is small versus spending time getting the old one out, plus risking that the old one will fail soon after the waterpump job is done.

Ken

Yep... on said '98 Ram, when we re-installed the tube, it leaked (go figure). Put a new O-ring on... still leaked. Wound up surrounding the whole seam between pump and tube with some radiator patch (a putty that hardens to a brass-like material).