Water Pump Woes - CEG Archives

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Hello,
I've had my 1996 Mystique for a month now. I've had 2 water pumps replaced in a month. They start dripping after 1 week from the underside of the pump. I called the local Mercury dealer. He said pumps and gaskets should be soaked 24 hours in pure coolant. Has anyone ever heard this? I'm at my wits end. I had a mechanic do the pump the first time. They had the car a week! It leaked 1 week later. My nephew and I did the pump ourselves last Sunday. We used gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket. Now the pump is dripping from the underside again. I wonder if soaking the pump and gasket is the answer? Or should I just pay the Mercury dealer $250.00 and get the job done right? I can get the aftermarket pump from NAPA for $55.00 again. It's not such a hard job. Just frustrating it won't stay fixed.

Hmm... I wouldn't take it to the dealer. I am not sure why yours is leaking, but I did not have to soak mine and it doesn't leak a drop. I have never heard of soaking it in coolant for 24 hours... has anyone else heard of this?!?!

Sorry I'm not much of a help, but maybe there is damage to the surface on the engine where the water pump touches?

Good luck,

Reebs

Would a bad belt tensioner cause the water pump bearing to fail in less than a week? My nephew thought the belt tensioner moved too easily. We could move it and take the belt off by hand. It seems to run true, no wobble or jumping when car is running. We couldn't find the tensioner on a Sunday so I gambled and used the old tensioner. I also noticed today that the car starts missing at about 3,800 RPM and won't rev beyond 4,000 RPMs. I don't need to rev that far but am worried it may be a sign of a bad head gasket. I noticed a little water coming from the exaust, no sign of water in oil or oil in coolant, yet. Am I getting paranoid?

Originally posted by Bill1:
Am I getting paranoid?

Probally, the belt tensioner doesn't apply much tension to the small fine water pump belt. That is just how it is. As far as I know, the water pump belt won't cause your car to miss or not rev past 4 grand. You could have a fuel problem. Get your fuel pressure tested.

Reebs

And by the way... the water coming from your exhaust is probally condinsation. Don't fret over it!

The tensioner can be moved by hand so thats fine. I would pull it and check the mating surface very good. Make sure there isnt anything preventing a good seal. BTW change the belt if there appears to be any cracking or exposed/frayed threads. HTH
-tropictour

Thanks guys. I already changed the belt. Replaced the old belt with a Gatorbelt. The old belt was cracked. The car runs and drives so nice, I'm really bummed the water pump keeps dripping. I went outside late last night and retensioned the bolts on the pump. I got a good full turn on all 8. I'm gonna take it out for a drive this morning and see if that helped.

It's still dripping from the bottom of the pump. DAMN. Gonna run it for a week or two and see if it gets worse. Then I'll most likely have Jack Demmer Mercury in Dearborn flush the system and fix the pump for me, only about $500.00. I think I'll get the whole pump, tensioner and hoses for that price.

Heck, the whole car is hardly worth that....

Steve

Did anyone recommend a thorough backflush to ensure removal of possible pieces of broken impellar?

Skimmed, so sorry if I missed it.

Originally posted by Bill1:
It's still dripping from the bottom of the pump. DAMN. Gonna run it for a week or two and see if it gets worse. Then I'll most likely have Jack Demmer Mercury in Dearborn flush the system and fix the pump for me, only about $500.00. I think I'll get the whole pump, tensioner and hoses for that price.

If you did not replace the bolts with new ones when you replaced the WP, that could be the problem. While most on this site state that it is not necessary to replace the bolts when doing the R and R (and do not have problems with their WP R and R), Ford's specific instructions on the CD Manual are to replace the bolts as they are torque-to-yield.

Never heard of torque to yeild bolts. Did a little research on them. They are used a lot now on head bolts and body applications. If the WP bolts are torque to yield type the problem may well be them. TTY bolts are only supposed to be used once, then they start stretching and losing holding power. I think I'll get some new bolts for that pump before I blow $500.00. They might just do the trick. It doesn't seem to be leaking from the weep hole or shaft, seems to be coming from the gasket. Hopefully I didn't torque them to the breaking point when I retightened them. Only thing I question about this theory is why would it not leak for a week, then start dripping?

Originally posted by Bill1:
..Only thing I question about this theory is why would it not leak for a week, then start dripping?

Ever heard of bolts or screws eventually coming loose due to vibration?

And do clean the surfaces again to remove all the old gasket and RTV gasket. And you may as well try soaking a new gasket with with coolant for an hour or so (even though I haven't heard of that being a solution to leaking gaskets).

Edit. Oh, and a reasonable condition 1996 Duratec is worth about $2000. $500 is not an insane amount to spend on maintenance and repairs. I have spent $1000 this year and consider it low (I think I am looking at $1500 to $2000 next year).

and I just read Ray's post. Backflush, backflush, backflush... before reinstalling.

One other thing, welcome to CEG.

I'm thinking I'd just get new bolts and replace them one at a time without removing the pump. The surfaces of the back half were cleaned well when we changed the pump. Gasket was sealed with sealer on both sides. If it's the bolts just swapping them one at a time should pull it tight, right?

Originally posted by Bill1:
... If it's the bolts just swapping them one at a time should pull it tight, right?

I don't know. If you're going through so much trouble (remove battery, tray, etc.) to get to the WP, you might as well replace the gasket.

Anyway, here is Ford's official howto. I wonder if the pump housing is broken. Is the impeller spinning freely or is it "loose" on the housing?

Water Pump
Removal

1. Drain engine cooling system.

2. Remove water pump pulley shield.

3. Rotate water pump drive belt tensioner clockwise to relieve tension on drive belt. Remove drive belt from water pump and water pump drive pulley.

4. Remove water pump inlet and outlet hoses from water pump.

5. Remove three water pump-to-LH cylinder head retaining bolts and remove water pump from engine.

6. If required, separate water pump from water pump housing and remove water pump drive belt tensioner.

7. Inspect water pump and hoses for wear or damage. Replace components as required.

Installation

1. Clean water pump-to-water pump housing gasket sealing surfaces using a wire brush, if required.

2. If removed, install water pump to water pump housing with a new gasket. Tighten water pump to water pump housing retaining bolts to 22-25 N-m (16-18 lb-ft).

3. CAUTION: Water pump retaining bolts must be replaced with new bolts. They are torque-to-yield designed and cannot be reused.

Install water pump and new torque-to-yield water pump retaining bolts onto LH cylinder head. Tighten new water pump retaining bolts to 15-18 N-m (11-13 lb-ft), then rotate retaining bolts 85-95 degrees.

4. If removed, install water pump drive belt tensioner to water pump housing. Tighten retaining bolt to 8-12 N-m (71-106 lb-in).

5. Lubricate water pump inlet and outlet hoses with Silicone Lubricant C0AZ-19553-AA or D7AZ-19553-AA or equivalent meeting Ford specification ESR-M13P4-A. Install water pump inlet and outlet hoses onto water pump. Install water pump outlet hose spring clamp securely.

6. Rotate water pump drive belt tensioner clockwise and install water pump drive belt. Carefully release drive belt tensioner.

7. Install water pump pulley shield as outlined.

8. Fill engine cooling system.

9. Run engine and check for coolant leaks.

I don't have to go to a lot of trouble. I can change the bolts rather easily. Just remove the belt tensioner and belt and one hose. The gasket should be OK. The last one wasn't blown out when we replaced it. Remember, I'm only changing the front half of the pump. The remanufactered version. Not the OEM full unit version.

I have a brand new housing and a metal pump if you need either.