How CAN this happen?
I finally got the water pump problem fixed fuel economy came back up power was fine...
Go to merge onto the highway, BOTH belts snap and fall off... Engine Starts to knock... I look down and the gas guage drops from full to empty... engine dies... rolling to a stop I hear all the fluids hissing out of her...
Explain that? How do you finally get it fixed only to have everything else break at once? I threw on the hazards and left her on the shoulder. Why bother locking the doors? there's nothing in it... and it is NOT starting anytime soon... the battery should be dead by morning when the tow truck shows up. Makes me wish I was done paying for it... I could part out what's left... I mean come on the body and frame are mint... *sigh* no more aerostar for me...

 

i know how ya feel but after ya cool down and have a beer or glass of wine ya want to look at the aerostar to see the damage before ya give her the boot. i think what probably happened is that one of the belts broke and flipped into the other belt causing it to break. the broken belt flipping around in there could have pulled off wires that may have shorted and made gas gauge missread. also there is a very good chance there is something wrong with the new waterpump like a bent shaft were the pully is wobling or a tight bearing. this still might be a cheep repair and the worst would be the tow bill.
hope this helps

 

Well lesse.. according to the mechanic my engine has decided it doesn't need the left side of the block and my water pump decided that pumping water is a ridiculously silly idea... The entire block is scrap at best he said meaning I need a new engine. The water pump is... Seized I beleive is what he said... the fuel lines have ruptured though he couldn't explain how that could even happen he seemed amazed that the van ever ran... Is this the same mint condition vehicle I bought three months ago?
So my new parts list:
Engine.
Water Pump.
Fuel Lines.
Radiator.
Fan.
Fan Clutch (these two went also shoving the fan INTO my rad making a wonderful green mess on the highway)
Serpentine belt one.
Serpentine belt two.
As ticked as I am (yes very very ****ed I am) I can't justify killing her. BUT if I fix up that many parts I'll be damned if she isn't gonna jump through hoops for me afterwards. Does anyone know if the 4.0 will bolt up to the manual tranny or will that be a big hassle? and what about swapping in the digital dash? An people have been tossing around the idea of an electric fan or something like that. Is that a good upgrade? And who can suggest a good HEAVY DUTY water pump (considering that all the ones that meet factory specs seem to blow out...) that will meet and exceed the engines needs without chewing up everything else? Other questions: How much work/money to get cruise installed aftermarket or ford made?

 

if it were mine and i wanted to fix it i would look for a good used engine out of a ranger truck or wrecked van with low mileage. water pump should only come from ford. ya cant trust those rebuilts from xyz auto parts.