I'd like to think that Ford was trying to scavange every last bit of horsepower out of this smallish V6 and perhaps the Ford engineers thought this was a good place to save weight drag, however small the amount it would be. When's the last time you saw a domestic engine that would reach the 7K rpm band bone stock AND put out 80hp per liter? Or anyone's for that matter? Honda and a few exotics and that's about it. And they do it with either fancy valve timing, lots of displacement, lots of cylinders or all of the above. Plus mucho $$$. I'm sure that someone can shoot some holes in my theory but that's my story and I'm sticking with it!
Karl
Edit: By the way, what happens when a metal impeller water pump's cone comes loose? I would imagine it would lose its "pumping power" much the same way as when a plastic impeller breaks. I was thinking that this would eventually happen if all one did was replace the pump and not the whole housing. Moral of the story: Keep one eye on the temp gauge and one on the road.
