Water Pump - Need Help Deciding

[Ferret II]

I never thought I'd be replacing another water pump as preventative maintenance, but I recently bought a '96 Mystique (2.5, MTX) with 53,000 miles. I love this little car and it drives like a dream! Now I want to replace the pump asap, since I have no idea if it stil has the original one with the faulty plastic impeller.

I've read through several threads here and still can't decide if I should put in the complete Ford pump with an upgraded plastic impeller or an aftermarket (partial) pump with a metal impeller. We put a DuroPro (gmB) metal impeller pump in my '95 SE about 50K miles ago and have been happy with it (at 102K now). However, our CarQuest guy recently said the DuroPro gmB water pump is not a quality he'd recommend, so I wonder if maybe the quality has changed for the worse since we got ours.

There seems to be no shortage of options for aftermarket pumps: O'Reilly's (MasterPro and Cardone), Carquest (AFC Corp with lifetime warranty/but plastic impeller; and Graf, Europeon brand), Autozone (Duralast), and NAPA (NAPA). Most are are around $70 and have metal impellers. I could also get the full Ford pump for about $70.

Since there doesn't seem to be a strong opinion in the threads about replacing either the full pump or aftermarket, or which aftermarket to chose I'm thinking it may not matter that much. Still, any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Smokinjoe]

Absolutly, positively replace it with the complete Ford pump. The price is almost the same, impeller is stong, easier install, never worry about leaks. It's a no brainer.

/end thread.

[aboythatskates]

i bought an oriellys for about 53$ and it was metal. it was a good choice imo

[Smokinjoe]

With the Ford kit you get a new pump, housing, and all 3 hoses and clamps. You don't have to worry about leaks, and having the hoses already installed on the new housing makes installation easier.

I've done it both ways. I'd recommend the Ford pump kit every time.

[Ferret II]

Thanks! I got the impression from earlier threads the partial pump was easier to install; maybe that's if hoses on the original housing are intact? We bought the hoses for the install of the DuroProf gmB water pump on my '95 Ford, but we didn't need them.

I also got the impression the improved plastic Ford impeller can still self-destruct, though rarely does so. I guess that's the crux of my concern, if that improved Ford plastic impeller is truly completely safe from exploding and ruining my engine. I wonder why Ford stuck with plastic instead of going to a metal impeller.

[uu_demon]

So where can I find this Ford pump kit. My first guess is a dealer, but $70 sounds pretty cheap to me. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, just skeptical. Oh well, I guess I'll give them a call tomorrow morning and find out myself, if not, where have you guys found it?

[Smokinjoe]

So where can I find this Ford pump kit. My first guess is a dealer, but $70 sounds pretty cheap to me. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, just skeptical. Oh well, I guess I'll give them a call tomorrow morning and find out myself, if not, where have you guys found it?

The best price I found when I bought mine was through Amazon.com. $85 shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-PW4...ar=1&carId=001

[aboythatskates]

oreilly's, 55 bucks

[Ferret II]

Hi. I started the thread and here's an update.

We ended up going with the Motorcraft (full pump) from Amazon, which Smokin' Joe linked to a couple messages back. I think it cost a bit less on Amazon when we bought it, but is still much less han the price Ford had quoted. I don't know about an issue related to needing new bolts, which I've read can be hard to find, but I'm almost certain we re-used the old ones. The pump works great. If you have a 2.0 liter engine, though, I don't think this is the right water pump.

This was for our '96 Mystique LS (though is the same pump as for our '95 Contour SE). We recently got the Mystique with only 53K miles from a dealer, and replaced the pump, which was working great, as preventitive maintenance. The Mystique is very clean appearing, but beyond notes on CarFax and a call to Ford regarding what re-calls had been done, we don't have a detailed maintenance history. The pump we replaced had the a white plastic impeller. From all I've read on this Forum, the impeller that could break apart and lead to almost immediate overheating was black. So it's a bit of a mystery to me that we took out a WP that appeared in great shape and had a white impeller. Maybe the previous owner (who was also the original owner) already replaced the pump. Perhaps he/she had done a "maintentance" replacement like we did around 50K on the '95 SE. Hubby, who did the work, was somewhat dismayed to take out such a nice-looking pump, but there was no way of knowing if we had the pump with the bad impeller, and now we don't have to worry.

[Smokinjoe]

You made the right choice. Did the waterpump belt look ok? I also reused the mounting bolts with no issues.

I replaced the stock, white impeller waterpump in my 2000 SVT when it starting making noise. I though I was going to find a cracked impeller but the noise was actually coming from the metal cone that had become dislodged and was rattling around inside the housing.