Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Water Pump Seal gone

This morning I took the car ( 98 EO SVT 125k miles ) to the mechanic after having a rather bad coolant leak. He said the seal was bad on the water pump and that the replacement part ( the whole pump ) would be 140 dollars, and after labor the cost would be close to 300. A local ford dealer was quoted at 260 for the job.

My question is should I have the shop replace the whole thing, or I was thinking of just buying a replacement front for the water pump and doing the job myself. Would a replaced water impeller / seal cure the coolant leak? Or do I need to get the whole pump replaced. I feel confident to the front part, but not the whole pump.

I will talk with the mechanic tomorrow and hopefully come a conclusion. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated, thank you.

The impeller/bearing/seal/pulley IS the pump.

The rest is just the housing. this does not need to be replaced.

By all means do it yourself, and save a couple hundred.


Get the metal impeller design if you can (from NAPA).

i think that the seal is for the impeller shaft( which is on the front piece of the water pump... but i dont know, cant remember... why not go to a ford place and get them to pull out the pump and make out you want one.. look at the part and look for the weep hole( 1/4 inch hole that lets coolnat run out of when the seal leaks... it its in the front piece then just get a front piece.. if its in the back section then just buy the whole thing.. and yes the dealer will charge about $140 for the whole pump.. it comes wtih some hoses attached to it also, done that when mine broke the broken impeller thing..... and remember if you do the whole pump you have to take out the battery and the battery tray to make room to get the old pump out and the new one int... not enought clearance to get the whole pump past the opening down there... hope this helps.

Whomever quoted you the price and what needs to be done is trying to FU_K YOU... There's no way in hell the price is that high. It's a 30 minue DIY job.

Take off the front engine cover, remove the battery and you'll see on the right side of the engine the pully and belt that run the waterpump. Remove the belt, unscrew the bolts holding the pump to the block and pry the waterpump apart. Scrape off the old gasket housing and reinstall a new gasket, reinstall pump (metal impeller?) add coolant, run for a bit and add more coolant until level settles.

You can easily do it at home with minimal skill, tools and most importantly.... minimal $$$$$$$$$

If you need your car right away, pick up a metal impeller water pump at NAPA & do it yourself. Its an easy job that will take a novice about an hour to do with common hand tools. You'll save A COUPLE HUNDRED DOLLARS.

If you can do without your car for a few of days, somebody found water pumps for our Contiques on-line here. I haven't used them yet, but you can call and find out if they have a metal impeller & what warranty they have on them. $46 for a Contour water pump is a STEAL. Again, you'll save A COUPLE HUNDRED DOLLARS on a do-it-yourself repair and get that "job well done" feeling too.