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.
