Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Water pump

Is there any way to completely fix the stupid water pump? I've had the car since Feb. and including the original (or at least Ford model) the car has had three on it since that time. Also, this water pump is humming. I'm not completely positive that it IS the waterpump, but it is coming from that area AND the other one made that noise after it started leaking. If there isn't a water pump that will last more than a thousand or so miles (this one hasn't even been on for half that) are there any lemon laws that would apply to this situation with the car dealer that sold me the car or with Ford itself?

Do you have the Duratec engine? There have been numerous threads about replacing this style of waterpump. Yeah, you may get a bad replacement model, but most have been lasting at least 50,000 miles or so. I've got 103,000 miles on my original waterpump with no problems, although I'm going to get it replaced as part of my 105,000 service.

Yeah, the Duratec. Where is the thread at? Are you supposed to do something special? I know a lot of other people have had problems with the water pumps, but i haven't seen anything about a special way to install it. The only thing i've seen is getting one with the metal impeller. I'm pretty sure some people have still had problems with those.

You might want to search the files. Most guys swear by the metal impellar water pump, although I've heard that Ford's current version of the pump has an improved impeller made of a different synthetic material. As far as installation problems, I haven't seen any comments about that.

Myself, since I have my service done at a Ford dealer (and believe it or not guys, I'm pretty happy with them!!), I'll have to settle for the new Ford version of the pump.

Your car should already be equipped with the "improved" version of Ford wp which has a white plastic impeller.
The pre-'99s had black plastic impellers which were prone to cracking and subsequent failure. Both of my waterpumps failed in May and I replaced with metal impeller ones.
Prior to this, on other cars with metal impellers, bearing squeak or seal failure(weeping) were the usual reason for replacement, but neither failure mode required immediate attention.
The plastic impeller with the added failure mode, which requires immediate attention, was not one which I nor most others were willing to entertain again - "once bitten, twice shy". Having said that however, realize that a broken wp belt produces the same symptom, i.e., instant overheating, no warning except temp guage. Most cars where alternator and wp share same belt you would get bat/alt idiot light which would draw your attention to a problem before car starts to overheats.

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't sure exactly when during the model years that Ford switched to the newer water pumps. I probably will still have mine replaced in a few weeks. Unfortunately, I'm tied to Ford service since I need a shuttle ride to work from the shop, and therefore have to accept whatever style impeller Ford is outfitting nowadays. I agree with you that it was much better in the "old days" when the waterpumps were on the front of the engine where they belong, and had multiple belts driving them. Plus, if the belt(s) broke, the airflow through the radiator would usually spin the fan enough to force some flow through the engine.