150,000 miles! and three quick issues to share...

[Agent2006]

Hi there,

Still Marauding around South eastern PA, got my first speeding ticket in years, plus later a warning ,LOL...car runs great.

Except.....

1.ISSUE 1 : tinny metallic sound from the front of the engine upon start up, then it went away , multiple start ups over the prior month, like a loose heat shroud.

Uh, NO IT WAS THE WATER PUMP GOING BAD. Not one drop of leaking AF or smell, then one day rolling down I-95 ~ 80 mph....alt light comes on, power steering gets hard, temp gauge begins to climb. Threw a belt. Immediately shut her down and coasted into a Enterprise car rental lot. Lots of wobble in the water pump shaft. New Ford water pump took 45 mins to R&R if that long. too bad it wasnt in my driveway , the tow home was $400.

2.ISSUE 2: after going over a big expansion joint , car stalled, immediately restarted, then random stalling and weird DTC's popping up.

Pig tail from fuel pump harness back at the gas tank clips onto the side of the gas tank edge, using a metal spring clamp. Big bump made that pop loose, wires touched the hot exhaust, melting through, grounding the harness to the exhaust pipe. FIX was to resolder and insulate the wires, then zip tie them out of the way, never trusting that cheapo clip again.

3.ISSUE 3 : DTC popping up for low engine coolant temp. Gauge read normal.

There's TWO temp sensors on the engine coolant crossover pipe. Pass side is for the instrument panel temp gauge, drivers side is for the ECM. Drivers side went inoperative after the serpentine belt flew off the pulley (due to ISSUE 1) and broke the connector and wires, was like ten minutes with a soldering iron and some epoxy. Fun fact: higher resistance = LOWER reported temperature, scan tool showed -196F . Then I jumped the connector, looks like high temp is 230F? FYI.

Car works fine now.

Sorry I missed Carlisle! I was out of town...

[johnjamis]

Anybody else have a water pump go bad/fail. I have 125000 miles and am concerned. Thanks

[BLACKMARAUDER04]

My water pump failed on my black around 255,000. It is possible my silver's pump isn't circulating quickly enough any more with 183,000 miles.
I'm thinking it will completely fail soon. I ordered a EMP/Stewart Components 50046S V8 Ford Mustang High Performance Short Style Water Pump - 4.6 L from Amazon.It uses like 3HP to operate compared to 10-15 for stock.
Make sure you get a short style pump.


EMP/Stewart Components 50046S V8 Ford Mustang High Performance Short Style Water Pump - 4.6 LEMP/Stewart Components 50046S V8 Ford Mustang High Performance Short Style Water Pump - 4.6 LEMP/Stewart Components 50046S V8 Ford Mustang High Performance Short Style Water Pump - 4.6 L

[offroadkarter]

Anybody else have a water pump go bad/fail. I have 125000 miles and am concerned. Thanks

You're fine. They either work or they don't. Unless you notice coolant weeping out of it or bearing noise or pulley wobble, don't worry about it.

[MyBlackBeasts]

They either work or they don't.

Not completely true, here's a rare one for you.

Had a car (Dodge Omni I think) towed in to the shop with an overheat problem. Did all the normal stuff like Tstat, coolant flow test, no combustion gasses in coolant, etc. It still would get hot when under load. Even though I could see the coolant flowing I decided to pull the pump. There it was! The pump (OEM) was made with a plastic impeller pressed on the shaft. The impeller split so it would be tight enough to pump coolant at idle but woulds slip on the shaft when driving and low flow the coolant and cause overheat. Installed new pump (with metal impeller) and cured the issue. I never used any pump with plastic impeller after that.

[offroadkarter]

Not completely true, here's a rare one for you.

Had a car (Dodge Omni I think) towed in to the shop with an overheat problem. Did all the normal stuff like Tstat, coolant flow test, no combustion gasses in coolant, etc. It still would get hot when under load. Even though I could see the coolant flowing I decided to pull the pump. There it was! The pump (OEM) was made with a plastic impeller pressed on the shaft. The impeller split so it would be tight enough to pump coolant at idle but woulds slip on the shaft when driving and low flow the coolant and cause overheat. Installed new pump (with metal impeller) and cured the issue. I never used any pump with plastic impeller after that.

Alright maybe I was being a bit too blunt with my post, I mean BMW uses plastic water pumps and those tend to explode often. I've also seen cases of people running straight water in cooling systems and the fins on the water pump rust away.

But at the very least in a properly maintained cooling system the pumps in our cars should have no problem cracking 200k.

[justbob]

Mine bit the dust at under 50,000. Still looked and rotated fine, but had started to weep.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[johnjamis]

Thanks for all of the water pump reliability responses. John

[MyBlackBeasts]

Alright maybe I was being a bit too blunt with my post, I mean BMW uses plastic water pumps and those tend to explode often. I've also seen cases of people running straight water in cooling systems and the fins on the water pump rust away.

But at the very least in a properly maintained cooling system the pumps in our cars should have no problem cracking 200k.

Yep, just wanted to share that store as it is a rarity. :)

[Agent2006]

Water pump failure is rare UNTIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU.

My 2006 MGM is still going strong at 157,000 original water pump. This one on the MM failed at 145,000. The MM has a long history of being ridden hard, put away wet. Don't know how that rags out the water pump, though...

A new Motorcraft water pump from Amazon was $58.98, free shipping.

The tow home cost me $400. So, if you hear that tinny, metallicky ratting on start up from the front of the engine, you may want to pre-emptively replace it. Takes 45 mins.

Just an opinion....

[fastblackmerc]

Anybody else have a water pump go bad/fail. I have 125000 miles and am concerned. Thanks

I'd replace it. Cheap and easy to do. Laso replace the belt, keep old one in trunk as a spare.

If you don't want to get stuck, preventative maintenance is key.

Regular oil & filter changes (5K), coolant flush, replace water pump, hoses & thermostat (50K), new plugs (30K - 50K), serpentine belt (50K), brake fluid flush & refill (50K), tranny fluid (partial refill - every oil change, I have a drain plug in my pan), power steering drain and refill (50K), rear end drain and refill (75K).

[daniel.drives]

Thanks for the info!

I changed my water pump to the Stewart in the high 180k mileage because of an occasional high temp under high loads; subsequently, I learned of the burp procedure and added an extra .75 gallons over what I drained out. Trigger happy on the parts cannon I guess. Old water pump appeared to be in good shape, it's in a box in the garage.

I had a similar car dying issue after a surprise 40 miles on a dirt road in Idaho (the alternative was an extra 6 hours of highway, I'd take the dirt any day, just rather in the vic instead), anyways, turns out my positive battery connector was corroded through and the dirt shook it loose.

Good to know about which temp sensor feeds which output! Thanks!

[johnjamis]

180000 on original water pump and still good; nice. Makes me feel better. I think I will wait til 150000 to change it.