Water pump replacement

[GreenNV]

Well today i decided to change my serpentine belt, purely preventative maintenance. and noticed that the water pump appears to have a slight leak from the bottom.

Ive tackled a few water pumps in the past, but all on older Fords pre 1980.

Can anyone give me any advice on changing the water pump on the AU series2, in particular is the heater pipe goin to give me any trouble?

Cheers

[montyLalor]

When you pull the pump out, could you post the bolt sizes (size, pitch and bolt length) Thanks.

[GreenNV]

yeah no worries montyLalor,

Il probably be pullin it out 2moro, read the bit under the tech resources about the Au water pump, fingers crossed its as easy as the service manual pic makes it look.

[Mont5.0]

i just pushed the heater pipe in no worries, just grease the o ring and make sure everything lines up before doing up all bolts.

[montyLalor]

Thanks GreenNV.

Sorry, I was in a rush to go out when I posted my request. I've got an '98 EL that I replaced the pump on last October. It's now weeping from what looks to be the pump-block seal/gasket.
I was gonna pull the pump out yesterday and refit today. I was wanting to take my time as there's a lot to remove: drain water, remove fans, remove radiator (so I don't accidentally damage the core), remove serpentine belt, remove hoses, remove alternator support bracket, remove pump, clean block and surroundings, replace heater pipe 'o'ring (I've found only a green-coloured Ford original 'o'ring will seal; standard black ones just crush and consequently leak), replace thermostat (it's time and summer is on it's way), check block cleaning job to ensure all of the old gasket is gone, prepare existing pump for refit (if still serviceable; only done 15k kms; otherwise go buy another one), then assemble all the bits that I've scattered everywhere. Pant pant pant..... :

I say 'was gonna' because the thing that stopped me from starting was not having the 'correct' bolts for the pump. I bought an $80 aftermarket pump that had a pulley that required the manufacturer to supply bolts that had the hex-heads ground away on one side so they could clear the pulley. : The pulley's o.d. and bolt's p.c.d. is a little too close for the original bolts to slide past.

Okay, I'll just replace them with high-tensile cap-screws, I thought. Do you think anyone in the parts supply game knows the size of these bolts? Apparently the same aftermarket brand of pump I previously bought no longer comes with said dodgy bolts as they've changed the size of the pulley's o.d. negating the supply of fastening $h!te. So, a trip to my parts supplier proved utterly fruitless.
As was the stop-in at the nearest Ford service centre. Their ignorance of the bolt's sizes was down to "we only order the bolts with a part number and then fit them." I can just accept that. Just.

Anyway, this was Friday arvo before work.

With nothing to go on except the knowledge that the original bolts have a 10mm hex head, I went to the local nut and bolt store and bought $30 worth of M6 cap screws ranging in lengths from 50mm through to 100mm.
If I had started really early Saturday morning I could have had it apart and the bolt sizes measured and the required replacements bought before the nut and bolt store closed at midday on Saturday. Thing is, I got up at midday, as I'm a shift-worker and don't ever get to bed before 4am.
I know I'm whingeing' like a sook, but you'd think someone in the industry would be able to tell me the size of these bolts. I suspect my M6 'collection' will be returned and that the correct size is actually 5/16" UNF. I'll have to go down to the fastener suppliers on Monday before work to swap them all over. Give it another go next weekend. _

[Mont5.0]

I remember having to put the bolts in past the pulley (tight), Before Doing them up, as they wont pass the pulley once in place.

[Jastel]

Still the same on BA's, seems stupid they cant make the pulley a few mm smaller so you can use a socket on the darn things....

Sorry dont know the bolt sizes, except the 10mm head bit

On the BA's the pipes are bolted in to the back of the pump so less leaks there, they listened on that side of things anyway

[GreenNV]

Well got the water pump in on Sunday, wat a mission, but had no probs removing the pump or fitting the new one, wish id read ya post before id done it montyLalor as i used the black "o' ring that came with the pump!

Anyway fitted the pump, cleaned all the old gasket off thoroughly before, and applied gasket goo to both new gaskets, both sides, the bottom pre-fitted gasket was hard to get a good amount of gasket goo on.

Cleaned up the heater pipe and fitted new 'o' ring and applied some gasket goo to the heater pipe connection on the water pump.

getting the new pump on I had to do what Mont suggested and put the bolts in past the pulley, Before fittin in place then Done them up. Now after all this and checking for leaks, i come out Monday morning and am now suspecting a minor leak, not noticeable coolant loss from the resivoir , but found a tiny puddle on the block under the water pump. Its definately not coming from the 'O'ring, i recon its from the waterpump/block gasket :(

Maybe not enough gasket goo? do you have to apply any sealant to the bolts could this be the cause of a slight leak? and as i dont have a torgue wrench i just done the bolts up as tight as i could (i have a dendancy to over-tighten stuff) could this cause a leak maybe......

Anyway im goin to keep an eye on it for the next few days, fingers crossed! Otherwise i might be rippin it off again and new gasket and green 'O' ring.

montyLalor attached is a pic and measuerments of the water pump bolt, all 4 are the same size, hope this helps, if ya need any other measurements let me know as i may be pulling the pump again next weekend.

IMG]http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i148/louis_h/bolt.jpg[/IMG]

[GreenNV]

try that pic again :P

[Mont5.0]

mate i just did the water pump on my Au, Gasket kinked and was useless so bought some gasket maker and beaded that around the face. She may be a little harder to get off next time, but she aint leaking.

[montyLalor]

Originally Posted by GreenNV

Well got the water pump in on Sunday, wat a mission, but had no probs removing the pump or fitting the new one, wish id read ya post before id done it montyLalor as i used the black "o' ring that came with the pump!

Anyway fitted the pump, cleaned all the old gasket off thoroughly before, and applied gasket goo to both new gaskets, both sides, the bottom pre-fitted gasket was hard to get a good amount of gasket goo on.

Cleaned up the heater pipe and fitted new 'o' ring and applied some gasket goo to the heater pipe connection on the water pump.

getting the new pump on I had to do what Mont suggested and put the bolts in past the pulley, Before fittin in place then Done them up. Now after all this and checking for leaks, i come out Monday morning and am now suspecting a minor leak, not noticeable coolant loss from the resivoir , but found a tiny puddle on the block under the water pump. Its definately not coming from the 'O'ring, i recon its from the waterpump/block gasket :(

Maybe not enough gasket goo? do you have to apply any sealant to the bolts could this be the cause of a slight leak? and as i dont have a torgue wrench i just done the bolts up as tight as i could (i have a dendancy to over-tighten stuff) could this cause a leak maybe......

Anyway im goin to keep an eye on it for the next few days, fingers crossed! Otherwise i might be rippin it off again and new gasket and green 'O' ring.

montyLalor attached is a pic and measuerments of the water pump bolt, all 4 are the same size, hope this helps, if ya need any other measurements let me know as i may be pulling the pump again next weekend.

I fear that it may be the bolts that are leaking. The thread runs into the water galleries and my Gregory's recommends that you coat them with Permatex Lock Nut to "seal?" them. Wish it went into more detail.

Thanks for the bolt picture, GreenNV. I've found the original bolts from my original pump. Thought I'd thrown them out. Just didn't recognise them (thought they were longer) but that pic confirmed it. Now I don't need anyone to tell me what thread they are! Just a pair of verniers and a thread pitch gauge. :

Originally Posted by Mont5.0

mate i just did the water pump on my Au, Gasket kinked and was useless so bought some gasket maker and beaded that around the face. She may be a little harder to get off next time, but she aint leaking.

Mont5.0, what gasket maker did you use? I have some Loctite Blue RTV Sensor Safe Silicone Gasket Maker that worked an absolute treat on the top and bottom thermostat housings. (Almost Ford Blue too in colour! : )
Did you coat between the pump casting and the sheet metal pressing aswell (I know it has a name, but can't think of it) or just between sheet metal pressing and block, like where the gasket would normally go? Or is your Windsor pump different to the 4.0L's?

I've read on other posts and heard through my Ol' Man that ya gotta run the system with just clean (distilled?) water for a time so that the fresh assembly's sealants can cure before putting coolant in. Was gonna try this this time. My plan was:
-assemble all
-leave 24hrs (gotta replace thermostat, so more Blue RTV-it specifies 24hr cure time-job must start early Saturday morning : )
-fill with tank water
-go for a blat
-check for leaks (yes, I might throw something if it does leak : )
-if all good, after cooling, replace water with coolant :

Thanks again, GreenNV for the bolt pic. Appreciate it!

[redxm]

Best thing for sealing the bolts is....... holden head bolt sealing compound. nothing leaks if you use that stuff and its easy to undo later

[Mont5.0]

The gasket maker i used on the fairmont pump was red in colour and was Loctite, and yes V8 pump is completely diffrent to the 6, it has 9 bolts and the six only has 4. The gasket making principle is the exact same- Just run a uniformed and continous bead around the same face as where the gasket would have sat making sure to circle around all bolt holes. Let it skin, then nip it up.

[montyLalor]

FYI, all: Water pump bolts are plain ol' M8 thread. Metric Course, that is: pitch of 1.25mm

[GreenNV]

Turns out the coolant leak was from the small hole at the base of the pump.

So id bought a brand new dodgy water pump!

Anyone else had trouble with protex waterpumps?

I reluctantly bought another one after going to 3 different parts stores, i was after one with the pulley already attached and it was protex again or nothing :(

[Mont5.0]

I have used powermax and Truflo after market pumps and neither have had any issues. The powermax was 69 bucks with pulley attached.

[montyLalor]

Today I'm replacing my Protech pump. Not gonna bother with it's warranty. I've found that Autobarn sells a brand called GDM or JDM or some three-lettered acronym-ness. A bloke from Repco told me that this brand was the equivalent to the OEM part. About $80. GreenNV, if your Protech @ pump doesn't last, give Repco a call. It sounded like they have all markets covered; cheap PRC rubbish all the way through to $180 you-beauts. Autobarn is just closer for me.

[montyLalor]

Who'd ya get the PowerMax through, Mont5.0?

[Mont5.0]

Originally Posted by montyLalor

Who'd ya get the PowerMax through, Mont5.0?

Auto one. $69- six cylinder pump. Supercheap had them as well, but without pulley attached.

[montyLalor]

Originally Posted by Mont5.0

Auto one. $69- six cylinder pump. Supercheap had them as well, but without pulley attached.

Ta. Ignore the PM.

[montyLalor]

D'oh! The nearest Auto One to me is over 1/2hr away! Autobarn jobbie it is, then.

[EvilChief]

Originally Posted by GreenNV

Turns out the coolant leak was from the small hole at the base of the pump.

called the pressure relief hohle. coolant bypasses through there when either the internal seal is broken or the water pump bearing is seized. once it leaks from there = replace, as coolant has enetered the bearing