Hello,
I've had my 1996 Mystique for a month now. I've had 2 water pumps replaced in a month. They start dripping after 1 week from the underside of the pump. I called the local Mercury dealer. He said pumps and gaskets should be soaked 24 hours in pure coolant. Has anyone ever heard this? I'm at my wits end. I had a mechanic do the pump the first time. They had the car a week! It leaked 1 week later. My nephew and I did the pump ourselves last Sunday. We used gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket. Now the pump is dripping from the underside again. I wonder if soaking the pump and gasket is the answer? Or should I just pay the Mercury dealer $250.00 and get the job done right? I can get the aftermarket pump from NAPA for $55.00 again. It's not such a hard job. Just frustrating it won't stay fixed.
