Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Killed another water pump today!

Yep, me and my right foot baked WP #4 this afternoon! Unbelievable! The engine really didn't seem to be running that hot today, but when I got home the coolant reservoir boiled over and there was a steady drip from the weep hole (i.e. ball bearing-thingy) on the WP itself. Bummer....

Brief history lesson:
-My original Ford pump died at 100k with a "typical" broken impellar back in January.
-Replacement pump 1 bought at Napa, lasted 2000 miles until 102k. The seal busted and caused a leak at the weep hole.
-Replacement Napa pump 2 (3rd overall) died a few weeks later at 103k miles. Busted seal again.
-Current busted Napa pump that died today has lasted over 5 months and 10,000 miles. Again, the damage was a busted seal leaking from the hole.

A mechanical engineer friend of my dad said he thought the first two WPs were a bad batch and that I should be ok now. I figured the guy's assumption was correct, as I've gotten through the Georgia summer so far (until today!) with 90 degree heat and daily 85mph drives with the AC on. That's semi-punishment, I know, but I thought I had a winner of a pump this time. Apparently not....

Anyway, I'm gonna take off the pump tomorrow morning and hopefully get a refund from Napa. No Auto Zone in Atlanta has the metal impellar model (several days to order; waiting isn't an option), so my only choice is to get an Advance pump or go get a FOURTH WP from Nappy.

Thoughts anyone? Comments? Questions? Why are the pumps busting like this, and why did the most recent replacement pump get me so far through the hottest part of the year?

Sorry to b-tch so much, but I'm sure a lot of you fellow water pump changers out there can't relate! Thanks for any help.

i would just get a ford one.

I would run a coolant pressure check,sounds like your pressure is too high causing the pump seals to blow out,may try a new rad cap if the pressure is too high(stuck or faulty valve in the cap),also check the coolant 'mix',50/50,more is not better!

Hey Terry! Thanks for commenting. But I did actually do a pressure check after installing the most recent pump, and the tech who did it said the pressure was fine. Something around 15/16 psi, right? Maybe I'll check again tomorrow....

As for getting a Ford pump....no way. I couldn't replace the entire housing that comes from them on my own, so I'm sticking to the aftermarket FACE PLATES. For now!

Thanks guys.

P.S. Terry,

I'll try to get a new cap this time, too. Can't hurt! As for the dillution percentage.....I've changed so many pumps the past 6 months, I can't honestly remember what water-to-coolant mixture I've used!

Ford hotline recommends to soak new water pump in coolant overnight before installing. They have also recommended using an aftermarket pump with cast fins as another option. This also comes with a final statement from hotline: Good Luck! These pumps have been re-engineered at least 4 times since 95 so rub your rabbits foot, cross your fingers, throw some salt over your shoulder. Something's bound to fix it! Rick

I would write Napa off. Get a Ford Motorcraft pump (they changed the impeller material, so they should be better now). Carparts.com sells them at a reasonable price if you can't find one at your dealer.

Also, make sure there are no left over plastic pieces in the cooling system from the original water pump impeller failure. A nice cooling system flush would be a good thing.

Oh, yes the Ford pump comes as an entire unit with housing. No problem though - just remove the new impeller side from the new housing, and just replace the impeller side. That's what I did, and it worked great. I also managed to save the new gasket and install it on my old housing. No leaks!

Sounds as though you should be pretty good at replacing the pump so this is what I suggest:
If you wanna risk your engine with another NAPA pump you could always get a new one from them (these are lifetime replacements right?).... put it on... order one from Autozone... and then... if, and when the NAPA one goes bad....try and get your refund from NAPA, and you will have the metal impeller pump all ready to go.
Or, you could always get your free one from NAPA.... ordor one from Autozone....and when you get the one from Autozone...install it. Right the NAPA pump off, and jump up and down on it in your driveway in anger. Or, take it back and tell them it failed again, even if it didn't. :rolleyes:

What's that "Ford hotline" you were talking about, Rick? Never heard of it. But it sounds like a good source of info. I would have soaked the pump in coolant overnight, but I haven't gotten a new yet today and will have to put it in as soon as I do. (I might let it "marinate" for a few hours today before installing it, though.) Thanks for the tip.

I guess I never thought about getting a Motorcraft WP assembly and only using the part(s) I need. But since the Ford pump was well over a $100 when I checked last January, I'll probably just stick to the $70 aftermarket models. I'm definitely going to avoid Napa this time, though, so it looks like I'm buying pump #5 from Advance today. And I might go ahead and order a Auto Zone pump also to have on hand for the next failure. Oh well....

Thanks guys. I'll let ya'll know how things go today. More soon...