Any recommendations before I replace my water pump. Stay stock? Brand? Convert to electronic fans? Replace thermostat as well? Best Coolant? Words of wisdom?

I pulled in last night from work and smelled that faint sweet smell we all know, antifreeze. The motor was at normal operating temp, the overflow was empty and there was steam rising off the block. Looking around with my new LED flashlight I convinced myself it was just the lower hose. Feeling confident it was not big deal I went inside the house, took a shower and decided to hit it in the morning and just go into work late.
Well, it just could'nt have been a hose could it! So, this morning with daylight I noticed the dripping from the front center of the block and not around the hoses. It was then I knew, your taking the day off for this one.

Info and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

I don't really know much about what's out there in the way of aftermarket water pumps, but I think I'd stick to OEM. The last one did you right for 10 years, so they can't be too bad I think I'd do the thermostat too just because.

Hopefully Marv (SpringerPop) will see this and comment. You can take his advice on 7.3's to the bank.

BTW...sorry about the circumstances, but it's good to see you posting in the chapter forum.

 

Thanks Steve. Yeah, I check in frequently to see what everyone is up to, but havent had anything to contribute so I keep quiet.

 

Definately replace the thermostat, check the hoses and look around for any spots that may have been leaking. OEM is better since it's a part that is not easy to replace. It's not like a hose that takes 5min to replace.

 

I'm kinda' late getting to this party, sorry!

I've had very good luck with the NAPA 58-554 pump. It's now been in place for over 65,000 miles, and still purring.

FIRST and foremost, the published torque values for the pump bolts are about TWICE what they should be. There was an error early-on that's been repeated in a lot of publications. If you use the published (around 35 ft/lbs) you WILL break at least one bolt. Use 18 instead. That goes for the pulley bolts, too.

Now would be a good time to convert your coolant over to an ELC, and I'm going to go with Delo ELC when I convert. But that can come later, too.

With the pump off, the CPS is very accessible. Might want to throw some dielectric grease in that connector. But that can come later, too.

The toughest part of the job is removing the fan clutch from the pump, as the fan and clutch has to come out with the shroud. Use some cardboard to keep from boogering up your radiator fins.

There is a special wrench that looks like two long, thin pieces of strap steel, with notches in the ends, that will hold the pump stationary while you turn off the clutch. That's a standard, right-hand thread.

Get some Aviation Form-A-Gasket for re-assembly, but use it VERY sparingly on both mating surfaces of everything you put back together. It will prevent leaks. Make sure the front housing surface is spotless and dry before spreading the Aviation on it.

Inspect the thermostat housing very carefully for internal rusting and pitting. Replace if necessary. Use a LONG-stem thermostat if you replace it, and make sure it looks EXACTLY like the one you take off. It's important not to use the short-stem one, as ours are longer to close off a bypass port when open fully. I didn't replace mine, and it currently has 202,000 miles on it. But that can come later, too.

Avoid leaks from that housing by chasing the threads on both the pump housing and the three little bolts with a tap and die. They're metric. Place the thermostat on the pump, add the square-cut o-ring, place the housing on top, press down lightly while hand-tightening each bolt to just flush and snug. Then, successively tighten each bolt a half-turn as you draw the housing down EVENLY into place.

Think about adding a coolant filter, as the coolant's SCA's "precipitate" out over time, and add an abrasive "sand" to the coolant. That what eats up the pump's seal, eventually causing bearing failure. But that can come later, too.

Consider replacing the top radiator hose with the type that is used for a dual-alternator engine. It allows the removal of the serpentine belt without breaking open the coolant system. But that can come later, too.

That's all I have for you right now.

Pop

 

Thanks Pop. No, I have to locate a wrench large enough for the fan clutch. Maybe tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, I will follow accordingly. Thanks again!

 

There is also a water pump casting available that eliminates the steel tubing input ducting piece (from the lower hose), as it has a longer casting for the input. I'm not real familiar with it, but I can't see it hurting if the original-shaped pump is not available to you. I believe it's an Airtex.

I also did some editing to the text above.

Pop

 

Thanks Pop. I appreciate your taking the time to share. Disassembly is complete, and only took about an hour. The new water pump came with the casting you are referring to, and your right, it is longer. It has a short radius bend that appears to be intended to replace the +- 120 degree bend in the stock hose. Post April 01 has a different lower hose than pre April 01, or so I am told. I cant use this piece unless I want to exchange the hose for the pre April 01 part number, or cut on the hose I bought. Not sure there is a benefit to using the new metal neck?
Fan cluitch removal went smooth, although I ended up using a pipe wrench on the fan clutch nut with a 2' leverage pipe. Once it broke loose it was fine. Everything is clean, and the only rust is on the outside of the thermostat inlet neck. You said to make sure the thermostats looks "EXACTLY" like ot one I took off, and it does not. A couple of differences that may just be cosmetic, but wanted to run it by you anyway. The stock gasket is split in the inside center and seats the thermostat in its center. This way there is rubber gasket between both mating surfaces. The replacement is just a single rubber gasket with not slit, meaning the thermostat would now seat on the water pump side right to the metal surface with the gasket on top. Is this right? I got the unit from CarQuest. As fas as the thermostat, it just looks cheap in qualtiy. Springs look thinner......it just looks cheap to me.

I took your advise adn got 4 gallons of the the Prestone HD ELC. Tomorrow after work I need to remove the block drain plugs and finish draining the old coolant out as much as possible. I am also going to look for a coolant filter, anything to keep this baby running long and strong is money well spent in my mind. Thanks again Pop.

 

Since you're going to go with ELC, stop by the supermarket and pick up a few gallons of DISTILLED water. Flush out the block a few times with tap water, then drain it and flush the tap water out with distilled a couple of times. Save a gallon or so to top off the ELC after you've filled it.

Be sure the ELC is the full-strength stuff, NOT 50/50. The cooling system's capacity is eight gallons total, so putting four gallons full strength and filling the remaining with distilled should give you a 50/50 at the end.

If you don't get all of the old coolant out, you lose the benefit of the ELC, and have to chemically treat it as the old-style coolant that requires SCA's. See:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post8935201 for a good description by Stewart and Gooch on the subject.

Pop

 

Will do Pop. Yeah, the Presetone HD ELC is full strength. I also picked up a 203 degree thermostat and coolant filter system from Diesel Site. Just waiting on it's arrival. Trying to get this to make it to a million miles. Is adding a supplemental oil filtration system overkill? I do oil changes religiously every 3k or so, and very infrequent towing, maybe twice a year for a few hundred miles each.

 

Yea, if you're changing oil at 3K, then I suspect that additional filtration is just over-kill.

You might want to review some of the filtration hyperlinks in my signature below as reading material until that coolant filter and thermostat get here.

Pop

 

I thought I'd close this out with a photo. Appreciate all the advise Pop, good stuff. Everything went back on smooth, no leaks.

In under 500 miles the 1st coolant filter was clogged, I was very suprised as my internals looked so clean. I guess its what you cant see that destroys the water pump.

 

Thats one clean engine bay. Gauge 1/0 or 2/0 batter cables? Where'ja get them?

 

Yeah, not bad for 325k miles. The cables are 2/0, from Car Quest. They feed my 1500watt inverter.

 

You could be a real convert to additional filtration after seeing that!

Glad all is well again!

Pop