I Was Working On My Friends 95 Aero With A 3.0l Today He Had No Heat And The Temp Was Ok During Driving But At A Stop It Would Get A Little Hot Not Overheating Just To Hot For My Likeing Frist Thing I Thout Was The Heatercore So I Flushed It Out And It Was Claer Then For Some Reason I Checked The Water Pump So I Took It Off And To My Suprise All The Blades Where Gone Has Any One Seen This Before Or Is It A Freak Thing That Just Happend? So I Changed It And Know It Has Heat And It Stays Cool.

 

No, I have never seen that, good diagnosis though. I would have been thinking fan clutch, I'm impressed.

Maybe original pump made of Pillsbury cookie dough.

Ken

 

many auto engine water pump impellers are made of a composite plastic, thousands of heating/cooling cycles and millions of revolutions along with the chemicals in cooling system break it down over time.

guess where the impeller chunks are at, in the block and head passages, hopefully none are large enough to block a water passage and cause a hot spot, end of one or more cylinders.

 

Ah, just as I thought, pillsbury cookie dough.

Ken

 

Yes, I have seen this before.....let me tell you my horror story.

I had about 75k miles on my 91 Extended Eddie Bauer when the water pump froze up. I took it to the dealer who replaced it with a new pump. Approximately 3 months later my van started overheating. I had the radiator flushed, I replaced the thermostat, hoses, etc. Anything I could think of that was "overheating related", everything but the water pump. After all, I just had it replaced. I finally bit the bullet and took the water pump off. I found exactly what you described; the impeller looked like a saw blade. The impeller was made out of stamped metal and the vanes that are at a right angle to the impeller where completely gone. I inspected the pump a little closer and when I turned it over there was a cute little green sticker that read "Remanufactured by Ford"....so much for the new water pump that I thought I had. I went to the dealership and confronted the service manager. You'll never believe what they told me. You have a head gasket leak and gases are leaking into your coolant. The combination of anti freeze and exhaust gases turn into a caustic mixture which corroded the metal. They would be glad to replace my head gaskets for the going price. I stood my ground and really good nasty, raised my voice so other customers could hear. I finally wound up with a refund and a replacement water pump, a new one this time......

 

Jolly good for you. score one for us, pretty amazing though. Pillsbury cookie dough.

KEN

 

Pillsbury Dough Boy Tough???

now we know why they pay those service managers the big bucks....shoveling horse manure on customers heads...
always wear hip boots to stealership...it gets deeeeeep
for $1800 they would have changed the head gaskets and sent you home with a half jar of vaseline to use when needed for pain.

 

You betcha, I have never had an unpainful experience at any dealership. I don't know why anyone goes there. Why does anyone go there??

Ken

 

How about this painful experience.

Nothings more painful then when you have a coolant leak from a fitting the dealer says doesn't show up in any of their diagrams .

My 96 3.0 had a T fitting that screwed into the block a smaller hose comming teeing from the lower radiator hose came into the bottom of the fitting and the dash temp sensor screwed into the top. To make a long story short I went to 3 dealers and all gave me a wierd look and couldn't find it.

I ended up going to Home Depot and made one from brass plumbing parts no problems or corrosion ever since what a nice experience.

"Were better. We're proving it and we'd like you to be the judge."

Thanks Ford!

 

When I replaced my water pump several years ago, same situation. The one I replaced it with I got at Autozone with a lifetime warranty. I believe the impeller was made of stainless steel.

 

I know this thread is about 3.0 water pumps however my '91 4.0 is having very similar problems. The radiator is clean and the thermostat is a Genuine Ford part replaced last year. Do the 4.0 waterpumps suffer the same failure mode. The van showed some minor heating issues this last weekend (60 deg. outside)? This summer it got hot going down the interstate at 75 mph into a head wind. Seems to be getting worse.

 

Yes, the 4.0 suffers the same problem. The truth about the cause, is that the antifreeze loses its corrosion inhibitors over time, and then some parts begin to rust, or otherwise corrode. Antifreeze should be chagned more on a regualr time based schedule rather than mileage. We had a '92 E-350 and it had the same problem (from being left for years unused by the previous owner without changeing the antifreeze)

 

A lot of car owners, other cars included, not just us Aerostar owners, tend to neglect 3 things until serious problems cropped up. By then it too late and often expensive:

1) O2 sensors
2) Coolant
3) Transmission/power steering fluids

What they don't realize is that those things "wear" out over time too, and must be replaced at periodic intervals. One guy I know drove a brand new car into the ground. The car needed a new engine after 25,000 miles. When I asked him how often he had the oil changed, his reaction was "huh? Cars need oil change?"

 

may be partially plugged radiator, believe Nebraska has high mineral content in water, tap water will plug radiator in 3-5 years, do a flow test, take both radiator hoses off engine, run garden hose into top hose, turn hose on full force, hold hand around garden hose/radiator hose junction as seal, should be no backpressure buildup in radiator
partially plugged radiators are best replaced.
use distilled water only with antifreeze.
we have same problem here east of Cascade Mountains in alkaline E Wa and E Or.
may also be fan viscuos clutch, 14 years is as long as they last. Aeros rely almost totally for cooling on the air flow thru the radiator, engine compartment does not have good air flow characteristics in Aero, fan and fan clutch are needed most of the time even at hwy speed.
hills, hot weather, extra load all add to overheating problems

is fan/pump belt glazed, will slip without squealing

 

Agreed. I fill ours with RO water, or use premixed coolant. Either solution prevents scale from building up. Of coarse there is always distilled water too, just thought I would mention it to prevent backlash. Many people don't realize the radiator needs to be cleaned on the outside, but honestly, how many bugs do you think the radiator can hold befor the airflow gets restricted? I spray a good thick soapy solution on it, ant let it dissolve the greases in the bugs, then spray it off with hot water. You could use cold water, but hot seems to work better. I would check the water pump. And definately replace the pump if you see scale or other sings of leaking at the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump. Also, about glazed belts, it is true that often they don't squeak, so check it. Our Aerostar never gets close to overheating. Check the fan for free play. SPin it as well, it should spin with some resistance when cold. If it spins freely, the clutch is worn. If it is seized, that is bad too.