I have a Contour V6SE with about 71500 miles on it. Still original waterpump. When I drove it tonight, after about 10 minutes I noticed the needle was way past the red. No lights came on, no warning sounds..?! I was lucky I noticed it. I had to drive for about another half mile then pulled over to look under the hood. The coolant was boiling and spilled over a bit. From reading the posts and FAQs on this forum (very helpful!) I'm thinking it's the waterpump. But I'm a bit thick and so am asking a few more questions to get things clarified before I take it to the mechanic tomorrow.
1) The engine was very clean. No sign of coolant anywhere except boiling over a bit. Could this still be waterpump failure? I had a broken hose once, coolant everywhere, and it made mechanics think it was the waterpump.
2) If it IS the waterpump, is it better to replace it with one that has a metal impeller? Some posts say yes, but the FAQ seemed to imply that it doesn't make a big difference. (would a dealer be willing to do this, or do they only use Ford parts?)
3) For the time that I did drive it overheated (maximum of 10 minutes or 4 miles), could I have damaged anything else in the engine?
Unfortunately, I didn't check the air out of the heater (not near car now), but I did check that the fan came on after a minute of starting the car, but not sure what that means other than that the fan seems to work.
Thank you for any input!
