Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Water pump and timing belt...What brand to replace with?

OK, I need to do the water pump/timing belt thing. Just picked up a Goodyear timing belt from Carquest for $25. Dealer is $52 for the belt, a little steep me thinks. Are Goodyear belts anygood? Should I look for a cheap price on a OEM belt?

Some people here say they use the Motorcraft OEM waterpump to replacement. Do these have the plastiv vanes like the original pump? Is there a brand of waterpump that is better then OEM?

Thanks...

hey there and welcome to the CEG!!!!

i wanted to chime in kind of quick before someone else might and run down your throat about searching.....at the top of every page, in big bold letters is the search function....it will become your friend
you should be able to find your answers about the waterpump issue in many places using search. i know a lot of poeple have used one from autozone (?), me thinks.......but anyways welcome to the CEG once again, that is my $.02

Goodyear usually does make good stuff.. There are "competition" belts that you can get made by Kent for around $40, which is around what I paid for my Ford belt from Bill Jenkins. Since you already have the Goodyear, stick with that.

Lots of Zetec folks have NOT replaced their waterpump and have NOT gone to AutoZone for it. I have heard of very few water pumps going out, but just to be on the safe side, go ahead and replace it. If you can get one from Ford for a good price, get that, otherwise, just try the normal parts stores.

Perry, I wouldn't recommend getting the Stock Ford Part as it has plastic impeller just like the Duratec. PepBoys sells a waterpump with the metal impeller and runs right at 70-80 bucks for the part. Have fun putting it on. The guy that did mine said he'd never do another one and he does this everyday.

Perry has an excellent point.......i wasnt sure whether or not if it was true, all i know is that i have had my car for 25,000 miles....it now has 68,000 on it, i have never replaced the water pump, i dont know if it was replaced before i got it, i havent checked to see.....anywho......i am with perry, havent heard of too many other zetecers having pump problems like the duratech.......

Tricked96, thank you for the polite admonishment for not using the SEARCH feture, but if YOU would use the feature and direct me to the posting that answers my questions, I would be grateful.

My problems are not impeller related, at least I do not think so. Rather I belive that the bearing is going on my waterpump. Anyways, I do not want to get stuck with a crappey replacement waterpump. I am leary of the Autozone part, as they do not generaly sell really good parts at Autozone. While I may buy something there that is easily R&R'ed, if I need to warrenty the part. I do not want to deal with R&R the waterpump for warrenty replacement. So I am curious if the OEM replacment pump has a revised plastic impeller like the Duratech pump does. I have no problem using a plastic impellor pump if it is of good quality.

Years ago Goodyear belts were not of very good quality, but these things can change over time. I am curious if anyone else has used a Carquest(made by Goodyear) timing belt, and what luck they had with it.

I would recommend against trying to save any money on the timing belt -- I got the factory belt and it only cost like $10 more than the reasonable alternative.

For the water pump, I used a Napa, which has a plastic impeller but does not have the two little holes that made some Ford impellers prone to failure.

IIRC the Ford belt is of very high quality and is probably worth the extra money. I believe its made with Kevlar.

I don't know much about the water pumps but just look for something outside the Ford part(unless theres a revised one)as it fails alot in the Duratecs.