Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 4,397
A
b0x @dm1n
Offline
b0x @dm1n
A
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 4,397
Originally posted by HITMANinMI:
I have a Zetec so it different about 3 hours.




OMG! WTH are you in this discussion! The water pump "problem" is only on the V6!

Yes some people do regular maintenance but sadly many many more don't.

Perry! Can I please. Pretty Pretty Please!

-Andy


Andy W. The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 95
F
CEG\'er
OP Offline
CEG\'er
F
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 95
Originally posted by Andy W.:
Originally posted by bigMoneyRacing:
And what's with the punk gangsta street talk?




He's from Forestville!

Nothin personal dude. Water pump failure is pretty common on all cars. Have you ever changed the coolant? Rancid collant can each most of your cooling system to bits.

-Andy



To a certain extent you are absolutely right...however...most water pump failures gradually happen ie: bearing noises or leaks through a weep hole..u usually get a sign verses an all out failure...maybe it was taken that i was criticizing fords WP design, that wasnt the case...but anyone knows that its not excusable to have so many documented failures...but life is pain you get used to it...as i stated earlier it failed and now it will be fixed...and the riding adventure will continue...btw i've only put 6,000 miles on the car since having it in september and the coolant was fresh.


98 Silver Frost EO 90 Grand Am H.O. Quad 4 300,000+ miles
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 4,397
A
b0x @dm1n
Offline
b0x @dm1n
A
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 4,397
Originally posted by FROSTY SVT:
Originally posted by Andy W.:
Originally posted by bigMoneyRacing:
And what's with the punk gangsta street talk?




He's from Forestville!

Nothin personal dude. Water pump failure is pretty common on all cars. Have you ever changed the coolant? Rancid collant can each most of your cooling system to bits.

-Andy



To a certain extent you are absolutely right...however...most water pump failures gradually happen ie: bearing noises or leaks through a weep hole..u usually get a sign verses an all out failure...maybe it was taken that i was criticizing fords WP design, that wasnt the case...but anyone knows that its not excusable to have so many documented failures...but life is pain you get used to it...as i stated earlier it failed and now it will be fixed...and the riding adventure will continue...btw i've only put 6,000 miles on the car since having it in september and the coolant was fresh.




Frosty,
I do agree that Ford had a line of Water pumps with problems. I also wasn't bashing your lack of maintenance as you probaly were the second owner. But over all, I've had my water pump for 90+k miles with out a problem. I would consider a big issue were they over priced and hard to replace. It takes about 15-30 minutes, some coolant, and a $60 pump. Not bad maintenance for 70K miles.

BTW I graduated from Suitland so I know your area pretty well. Class of '97.

-Andy


Andy W. The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 5,854
T
TGO Offline
Hard-core CEG'er
Offline
Hard-core CEG'er
T
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 5,854
unless mine broke before i bought the car @ 59k miles, it's stil going strong at 88k!

Originally posted by FROSTY SVT:
Just to let u all know...my water pump blew the hell up at 72,865 miles..well more like 72,862 miles cuz i dont know how long it was in the red...funny thing is i usually keep an eye on dat gauge...luckily its covered under ESP...its ironic this happened because i was gonna put the car in the shop tomorrow cuz the A/C accumulator is leaking...hopefully i didnt blow the damn head gasket on the biiaattcchhh...hell i have a quad 4 and neva blew that gasket and they blow for the hell of it..:-)..anyway i'm gonna have the IMRC replaced as well some other issues i'm having...ford will love me...hopefully the tow guy didnt bend the damn control arms pulling it on the flatbed...if so..guess that'll be in another post.




1999 Silver Frost SVT #609 of 2760 Quaife, lightened SVT Flywheel, SPEC stage II clutch, removed resonator, k&n drop in - various other goodies too.
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 253
M
CEG\'er
Offline
CEG\'er
M
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 253
Originally posted by TheGreatOne:
unless mine broke before i bought the car @ 59k miles, it's stil going strong at 88k!




You probably have the revised, white plastic pump which is known to have much greater longivity than the pre-99 unit.


99 SVT, Black/Blue #1720 of 2760 04 Mazda Tribute ES, fully loaded Check out my website!
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,294
A
Hard-core CEG'er
Offline
Hard-core CEG'er
A
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,294
okay, well, inspite of all this, I have had 5 contours in my family since 95, and well, we drove all of them except the last one (current ride) 40k or more. no water pump problems ever, two 95, one lx, one se. 98 svt, 99 se sport, a 2000 se sport... never had a problem.....


95 SES Sold 99 SE Sport Sold 99 SVT T-Red Tan Interior. K&N, Magnecors, 19' Theorys, And some audio stuff.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 289
C
CEG\'er
Offline
CEG\'er
C
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 289
Holy smokes! A bad water pump!
That's nothing! I just bought a 2nd vehicle. I bought a 1996 Dodge Dakota so I didn't have to use my Contour for hauling stuff that I didn't want to get all over my car.
Well, I think my luck is a little worse then yours.

1st off, we changed the antifreeze out of the radiator last weekend. And it looked like SLUDGE! After many flushes, we decided to put the radiator fluid back in. Well, shortly after this, there was white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Yep, bad head gasket.

And no, we aren't done quite yet.
The guy who had this truck before me never changed anything except for the oil and tires.
He never changed the spark plugs/wires. Tranny fluid (we don't know if he changed it or not, it looked red, but we'll change it to be on the safe side).
Also the gas gauge never worked so we'll fix it as well as changing the fuel filter.
Also we decided to change the serpentine belt as well.

So far, all of the parts listed above cost me $250. That doesn't include what I will pay my friend to do it, as well as how much it costs when he takes the head out and brings them into a machine shop.
So, I am sure I am at least spending $500 + to fix this beast.

But that's ok with me. I'll fix it. I really like my truck, once it is back on the road. I haven't even had thsi truck for a month, (I put less the 1,000 miles are on it too).

Fix it and drive on.


1995 Contour LX 238,000 miles
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,176
B
CEG'er
Offline
CEG'er
B
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,176
It took me 2 hours to replace mine.....but that did include lunch! Lunch should always be included in the time to do this type of job....



An ounce of prevention provides a pound of cure!
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 851
B
Veteran CEG\'er
Offline
Veteran CEG\'er
B
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 851
Originally posted by FROSTY SVT:
To a certain extent you are absolutely right...however...most water pump failures gradually happen ie: bearing noises or leaks through a weep hole..




Mine started leaking, as opposed to the impeller breaking.

I suspect that Ford's intention was that it would start leaking before the impeller ever broke.


Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 95
F
CEG\'er
OP Offline
CEG\'er
F
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 95



According to the invoice they called the water pump "seized" but that wasnt the case because the pulley turned freely....maybe they've gotten tired of admitting to "dissentegrating impeller"... at any rate its back on the road...this experience with the dealership has made me realize that unless you have a substantial repair like waaaay beyond the $100 deductible, its best to do it yourself because the dealer will try to get you if you go to them helpless and unknowledgable....my a/c accumulator was leaking r134 which i knew because it was obvious even to the late Ray Charles..but the dealer said it was because i needed a new cabin air filter...which i had already changed a month ago...needless to say i declined it and pretty much told them if u feel the accumulator you will feel the oil all around it...which suggests that they'll try to get you to spend extra money to compensate themselves for the customer not having to pay for anything but a deductible.






98 Silver Frost EO 90 Grand Am H.O. Quad 4 300,000+ miles
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  GTO Pete, Trapps_dup1 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5