Hello,

I've probably asked this question before.

I've came back from my local GP, parked the car, switched off engine, never heard any unusual noises, later on I looked under the car and looked like a river of water...hard to say where the water was dripping from, at least it mostly green in colour.

The top radiator tank was dry as a bone. Ran some water through it, noticed a big leak immediately.

Hard to say if was from the top of the hose where it joins onto the water pump or the pump itself.

Decided to take everything off to get to the source of the problem.

How bizzare, for reasons unknown to me the radiator clamp were very loose. I ended up removing the bottom hose and the original water pump.....yep, its seen better days and very noisy

I've purchased a replacement water pump.

I am about to replace it tomorrow, but would like to know what type of silastic / Permatex I need to make the new O ring water tight / leak proof.

And what sealant can I use on the water pump butting against engine?

I was unable to remove all the previous gasket material from the engine block, it's glazed on and very stubborn to remove.

Any help on this would be welcome.

Cheers, Peter

Never used any sealant... Just soak the pump in water prior to installation to make the paper gasket soft and do the second gasket also... There is no O ring? you have block, paper gasket, metal shield, paper gasket, pump housing...

You'll need to find a way to get the surface flat but otherwise you will have a leak...

Cheers,
Tim

As Tim has said, you will need to get the block face clean otherwise you won't get a good seal.

O Ring is for the heater line. You can any good silicon sealant (I use Permatex Grey). I would suggest going to Ford and getting genuine O ring as the after market ones never seem to last.

TimmyA

Thanks for the info, sorry, I meant to say the O ring is for the pipe that sits at the back of the water pump.

Very difficult trying to get that old gasket off the engine surface. I tried a sharp bladed knife, not enough room to get full swing of the blade.

******************************************************************************

SWC, no worries. Permatex Grey. Looks like another trip to Ford to get the genuine O Ring.

Oh by the way, I never did see a spacer on or in that pipe where it joins into the water pump.

Maybe Ford missed this vehicle in their recall.

Thanks for the assistance guys.

Cheers, Peter

I feel like I tried the spacer on my ED or AU motor at some stage of the modifications and it didn't fit into the water pump... Not sure if it was required on the EF and EL but not the AU or what now... But if it wasn't leaking there it probably would have gotten the recall anyway...

Cheers,
Tim

TimmyA,

Thanks for that info.

I went to the local Ford supplier and picked up a genuine O Ring for the pipe, I applied some rubber grease to make the seal a bit smooth. I was going to use silicon grease but never had any.

Purchased "Three Bond" Grey silastic for the bolts, bugger, I've installed the pump, ran the engine to warm up with Heater on Full.

I forgot to apply bit of that three bond to the threaded bolt before tightening.

Oh well, soon find out later if it will leak.

Placed the pump and other gasket in water prior to assembly, gave it 5 minutes in water, hopefully that should have been sufficient, so far, no leaks, but have not driven it any distance.

About the spacer, apparently it never went into the pipe as such, I was told it was fitted somewhere on the side of the pipe or pump housing, bugger if I know where it is, all I know it was not in the pipe where the O ring is located.

Just managed to install , run and top up with coolant, about 15 litres. before a heavy storm hit.

Thanks for your help Tim.


Cheers, Peter

What I am guessing is the After ED they must have made the hole in the back of the pump bigger... The spacer I had from Ford tap up the end of the pipe... We knocked it in and then it was too large in diameter to fit into the back of the pipe so we had to try tap it back out of the pipe again... The pipe and O ring then fitted into the ED pump no worries... I don't think I've the pump off my now AU motor to see if it would fit up the bum of it, doesn't leak at the moment but so no sweat there...

Cheers,
Tim

Oh ok, that could have been what Ford had done on the AUII , June 2000 Build is the one I have. No worries, as long as it does not leak is the main thing hey!

That O ring cost $6.00 from Ford this morning

Cheers,
Peter

Bloody hell, they have bumped the price up on them.

Couple of years ago they were less than $2.00 each.

SWC,

Yeah, they are pricey. I'd say that's the main reason why some people don't go genuine due to higher cost.

Oh well, got the job done, grimy one at that.