ANOTHER coolant leak!!... water pump??

[TrueBlue03]

wtf is this. gettin so tired of the car's problems and reliability based on the fact that it's a ford... i get the car all the way home without even the slightest problem, park it and walk inside, come back out to get something out of the car, and ALLLL of the car's coolant is on the ground draining down the parking lot out into the street.


F----ing friday the 13th. The car just recently screwed up when the thermostat went out and caused the "radiator hose--intake manifold" gasket to blow out, spraying coolant throughout the engine bay. and the engine overheated, lost power steering, brakes and all the lights went out...

This time, the damn coolant is is draining down the block from under and around the pulleys. I think the water pump ate Sh.iit !? could it be that? It looks to be leaking from behind the pulleys. If it is the water pump, any one have any reccomendations on something more high performance?

 

[Mike97gt]

wtf is this. gettin so tired of the car's problems and reliability based on the fact that it's a ford... i get the car all the way home without even the slightest problem, park it and walk inside, come back out to get something out of the car, and ALLLL of the car's coolant is on the ground draining down the parking lot out into the street.


F----ing friday the 13th. The car just recently screwed up when the thermostat went out and caused the "radiator hose--intake manifold" gasket to blow out, spraying coolant throughout the engine bay. and the engine overheated, lost power steering, brakes and all the lights went out...

This time, the damn coolant is is draining down the block from under and around the pulleys. I think the water pump ate Sh.iit !? could it be that? It looks to be leaking from behind the pulleys. If it is the water pump, any one have any reccomendations on something more high performance?

I have not seen any water pump fail on these motors.. but there is always a first. I would check over the work that was done recently, it's quite possible somebody screwed up working on your car.

 

[screamin gt]

I have not seen any water pump fail on these motors.. but there is always a first. I would check over the work that was done recently, it's quite possible somebody screwed up working on your car.

check over everything, shouldn't be that hard to pinpoint the leak

 

[CanadaStang]

If the car was ran with no coolent b/c of the thermostat problem, the waterpump may have been running dry which is very hard on the pump seal and may cause it to now leak.

 

[TrueBlue03]

Thats exactly what i was thinking. the previous leak drained the coolant so fast that it ran dry for a bit before i could turn the car off.

We checked over EVERYTHING and finally found that it looks like it IS the water pump that failed...

this leak is completely differerent from the previous leak(which was caused when a gasket busted (where the upper radiator hose connects to the intake manifold.) ...so pissed that i've had TWO coolant leak problems in only 2 months

 

[the98stang]

meh. sh1t happens dude. Hope you get er' fixed.

 

[UCF1Slider]

Is your coolant crossover at the front of the intake plastic or metal? If it's plastic then your intake plenum cracked around the thermostat housing (this is a known issue that Ford was involved in a class-action lawsuit for). You'll have to replace the plastic intake plenum with one that has an aluminum coolant crossover... typically this part runs ~$190. I just got mine replaced under an extended warranty I purchased... parts and labor ~$650. They told me the coolant leak was my thermostat gasket/thermostat/intake plenum gasket, I told them it was the intake - I was right

My leak was dripping fluid behind the water pump and some got on top of the alternator bracket... if I had to guess I'd say this is your problem!

 

[TrueBlue03]

good info...
and yes i have already had that (similar) problem at the gasket. my crossover is actually the aluminum one but my thermostat screwed up and caused an overheat i think and the gasket right there blew out, spraying coolant.

very helpful info though. the final verdic is that it was the water pump leaking. got the new one already in, and everythings workin perfectly. i probably just screwed it up running it dry last time it blew the gasket.

 

[Mike97gt]

Congrats, you are the owner of the first 4.6 that I have ever seen need a water pump..

 

[COramprat]

I've blown coolant several times and haven't had a water pump problem yet. Cracked intake manifold, cracked radiator at the upper hose attachment, blown out heater hose. I've pretty much completely redone the coolant system except for the water pump.

 

[TrueBlue03]

lol. what do i win?

just a weird occurance. it had to have been that first leak that caused all the trouble. its fixed now though, so i can start lookin ahead. If my car stops acting like its an old crippled woman, its gonna see gears, shorties and probably a tune sometime in the next few months....but thats only if it doesnt keep acting up...