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Water Pump Woes Continued (again)

B

Bill1

New CEG'er
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Messages
18
Location
SE Michigan
I've had 3 pumps replaced in 2 months. They all start dripping. I had the Mercury dealer put the last one on, cost me an arm and a leg. This last pump went 5 weeks 2 days. The rebuilts I tried only went 1 week before dripping. The dealer is replacing the last one for free. It's still a major headache for me being without transportation for a day or 2. My question is what could be causing this? Could the cap on the reservoir be bad causing a pressure build up? Could it be a bad thermostat? I love the car. It's a 96' Mystique with 84,000 miles that is super clean and well maintained. Help! Any ideas what could cause water pumps to fail so often?
 
I think it's leaking from the gasket. Maybe the weep hole, not sure. I had the dealership do the last pump. It was the whole unit, both halves. The rebuilts I put on were just the front half. They didn't last for dooky.
 
New pumps should not leak. Either they were defective or you may have a cooling system problem that attacks the new pumps.

How old is the coolant? Sometimes a good coolant flush is needed to get old acidic coolant out of the system.
 
Bill1 said:
.. I had the dealership do the last pump. It was the whole unit, both halves. ....
Click to expand...

When did they do it? They usually warranty it for 12 months/12K miles. Give them a call to confirm.
 
Thanks for input

Thanks for input

I had it into the dealership on Friday. They confirmed it was leaking from the pump and under warranty. They can't get to it till Tuesday so I have a appointment for Tuesday. I had asked them to do a flush and fill when they replaced it last time. They didn't do it. Said they tested the coolant and it didn't need it. I'm gonna insist they flush and fill cooling system this time. It'll cost me but if it stops the failures it's worth it to me. I think I'll have the trans service done too. I want this car to last a couple years.
 
Bill1 said:
I had it into the dealership on Friday. They confirmed it was leaking from the pump and under warranty. They can't get to it till Tuesday so I have a appointment for Tuesday. I had asked them to do a flush and fill when they replaced it last time. They didn't do it. Said they tested the coolant and it didn't need it. I'm gonna insist they flush and fill cooling system this time. It'll cost me but if it stops the failures it's worth it to me. I think I'll have the trans service done too. I want this car to last a couple years.
Click to expand...

Wow, terrrible. A lousy 30 minute job that can be done in 15m and they put you off. In my opinion they should squeeze it in between appointments; it's not like we're talking a clutch job here. :rolleyes: Probably because you are a 'comeback' and this time the job won't net any money.
 
Bill1 said:
I've had 3 pumps replaced in 2 months. They all start dripping. I had the Mercury dealer put the last one on, cost me an arm and a leg. This last pump went 5 weeks 2 days. The rebuilts I tried only went 1 week before dripping. The dealer is replacing the last one for free. It's still a major headache for me being without transportation for a day or 2. My question is what could be causing this? Could the cap on the reservoir be bad causing a pressure build up? Could it be a bad thermostat? I love the car. It's a 96' Mystique with 84,000 miles that is super clean and well maintained. Help! Any ideas what could cause water pumps to fail so often?
Click to expand...

I had the exact same problem you are experiencing about a year ago. I flushed the engine, radiator and replaced the upper radiator hose. No problems since.
 
Cool, good to hear I may be on the right track. I had the cooling system flushed. I hope that does it. Got a free pump installed after the flush. I also had the trans service done. They also said I needed a idle sensor. It started to idle funny while they were flushing the cooling system. I had them replace the sensor while I was in there.
 
Mine is also leaking. I may have to replace the entire housing. I only replaced the impeller half since the plastic was cracked. The replacement was also plastic (from AutoZone). There is a lifetime warranty on the part, but I heard there is metal impeller replacement out there that I would rather have.
 
Rich2279 said:
Mine is also leaking. I may have to replace the entire housing. I only replaced the impeller half since the plastic was cracked. The replacement was also plastic (from AutoZone). There is a lifetime warranty on the part, but I heard there is metal impeller replacement out there that I would rather have.
Click to expand...
White plastic good, metal good. Black plastic bad.
 
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