The bottom of my water pump is leaking coolant. it leaks a lot sometimes and hardly any other times.

Should I replace the water pump or just the gasket?
Do I need to worry about anything else (timing belt on some gas engines)?

 

You need to dee where it's coming from. If the coolant is coming out of the weep hole on the pump then you need a new pump. If it's coming from the gasket then........

 

just change the pump, its easy to do.

 

like mr. jim said if coolant is coming from the weep hole on bottom of water pump that means water pump needs replacing. they can be very costly from dealer. autozone or equivelent would be a good place to go if cost is a factor. i currently got mine off from snapping a bolt off in thermostat housing . like mr Carrier says its pretty straight forward on replacement. i also got new hoses in the process might be a good time to replace them and thermostat.

 

What kind of coolant do you guys use?

 

Oh, boy....that is a loaded question. I read many threads that discussed this page after page.

I did my pump two months ago and I defaulted to the Motorcraft fluid. It was easier to do than figure out the million mile fluids. It needed to be done and I didn't have time to research it any more.

 

Diesels are particular to the coolant they use, correct? So is the Ford stuff (motorcraft) the best. We can assume the 7.3's were designed to use motorcraft.

 

You can use any coolant rated for diesels, be sure to add the appropriate additive. You can get it at the dealer or online.
Diesel Engine Coolants - [VC-8]-Motorcraft Diesel Cooling System Additive

Motorcraft VC-8

 

Ford does say to use ethylene glycol and not a propylene glycol based coolant. And Jim's point about the anti-cavitation additive is pretty crucial. You can get test strips to test the ratio after you add it.

 

If your doing the pump would be a good time to do the 203 degree thermostat as well.. you'll thank us later.......

 

I had a tough time getting the one I bought to seal right. Ended up with a stock 'stat. Going into summer it's probably ok. The stat from the dealership (even though it's a 193) has a rubber seal all the way around and even envelopes the outer edge. Really a nice seal. You could possibly transfer the seal or just sandwich the 203 between two normal ones.

 

where do you get the 203 from?

 

You might also consider getting the housing that sits on top of the thermostat if you change the water pump because they are known to leak after changing the pump they are around 20.00$ at napa. I ended up pulling my new pump off, thinking it was leaking because of that stupid thing, also if you can rent or buy the fan clutch removal wrench it makes life much easier
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My new thermostat housing leaked, so I put my old one back on. No leak. It was still in ok shape. Just a little dirty with a few pits and not all rusted out.

I also found an adjustable wrench at Sears for $20 that served as a nice clutch wrench. You can get the 203 from Dieselsite.

http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=186

Just remember that you'll need two gaskets. Top and bottom.

 

Any idea what the torque ratings are for the water pump fasteners? Did you guys use the provided gaskets or use something else?