In (MY OPINION) DO NOT go with Motorcraft, I went with a new Napa Tru-Flow after 3 New Motorcrafts were defective. I'm sure I will catch H-ll over saying no to Motorcraft, Anyways the BACKING Plate was much thicker on the new Napa pump, in return giving a much better seal. NO LEAKS!!!
Now is the time to replace the thermostat and hoses while you're at it. Also a good time to do that exta cleaning around the engine and paint the brackets if you're feeling up to it while it's all apart. As far as DO's and DONT's:
DO take your time and thoroughly clean the mating surfaces.
DO make sure you have the serpentine belt on correctly so the pump doesn't run backwards
DON'T forget to flush it thoroughly when done.
It's not a difficult job but a dirty and slightly time consuming one depending on what you do while you're in there. Definitely cheaper than taking it to the dealer and you will surely be more careful with it then they will. Good luck!
This is one thing I try to do on a car that I have never replaced a water pump on that I don't know the repair history of the car. The night before I replace the pump I WARM the engine (open the radiator cap) from cold (NOT pressurized, NOT hot) with the pump and all attaching bolts exposed (no brackets in the way). Since the water isn't circulating this doesn't take long and can be monitored by touching the intake manifold water inlet area. When the engine is warmed up TURN IT OFF and begin to loosen the pump bolts. I START the loosening process enough to allow the bolts to start to turn a bit but don't loosen them up a lot or remove the bolts. The reason I do this is years ago I did the job from a cold engine and some MORON before me used a sealer on the bolt threads that when cold it held the bolts that go through the timing cover into the engine tight and those bolts snapped off right behind the heads of the bolts. Then I had to fight to get the timing cover off to get the broken bolts out of the engine.
When I do the actual job the next morning I am always sure to lay each bolt out as it comes off of the engine so I am sure they go back where they came from. Sometimes a bolt may be 1/4" or 1/2" shorter than the others and not getting a bolt into a hole enough and starting to tighten it down can cause you to strip threads in the timing cover.
ALWAYS seperate the rear cover from the new/rebuilt pump and permatex or sealer-up that gasket on both sides too! You will see this gasket already in place behind the back cover with two bolts holding the cover onto the pump. After getting it sealed on both sides be sure to tighten the bolts back up good.
Use a stiff wire brush to clean the threads on ALL bolts that you remove when you take the old pump off of the car. DON'T OVERTIGHTEN any bolts when you reinstall the pump as the timing cover is aluminum and the threads in it can get stripped out. Use torque specifications where needed and have the appropriate torque wrench available to use. Usually you snug bolts, and then torque to a lower spec, and then go around again and torque to the correct spec.
After everything is back together, if I use Permatex #2 as a sealer, and I do, I WARM the engine so the Permatex cures to the mated parts and then do my coolant filling when the car cools back down.
Be patient, it may take a half day or more to do this job. Don't rush, take notes if you need to, draw bolt pattern as you see the bolts on the car on a piece of paper and number each one and then mark each bolt you remove with the corresponding number in the picture so you know where each goes back on the car. The tags can be held in place by bread bag ties.
IF you have extra bolts afterwards, OOPS, you shouldn't.
Oh yes, I almost forgot, BEFORE you remove the serpentine belt loosen and/or just about remove the fan-to-water pump bolts. The serpentine belt will hold the pump pulley tight so you can loosen these bolts. If you don't you will have to try to hold the water pump pulley from turning with your hands and that isn't real easy to do woth tight fan bolts.
The tensioner bolt is either 16mm or 18mm. When you are ready to remove the belt it will take a lot of effort to get enough shack pulled UP on the tensioner to remove the belt from the alternator. When you let down on the tensioner it will take whatever you pulled up on it with a long way to its resting place so be prepared and wear leather work gloves so the fan shroud doesn't slice your hand open.
Comments
DO take your time and thoroughly clean the mating surfaces.
DO make sure you have the serpentine belt on correctly so the pump doesn't run backwards
DON'T forget to flush it thoroughly when done.
It's not a difficult job but a dirty and slightly time consuming one depending on what you do while you're in there. Definitely cheaper than taking it to the dealer and you will surely be more careful with it then they will. Good luck!
This is one thing I try to do on a car that I have never replaced a water pump on that I don't know the repair history of the car. The night before I replace the pump I WARM the engine (open the radiator cap) from cold (NOT pressurized, NOT hot) with the pump and all attaching bolts exposed (no brackets in the way). Since the water isn't circulating this doesn't take long and can be monitored by touching the intake manifold water inlet area. When the engine is warmed up TURN IT OFF and begin to loosen the pump bolts. I START the loosening process enough to allow the bolts to start to turn a bit but don't loosen them up a lot or remove the bolts. The reason I do this is years ago I did the job from a cold engine and some MORON before me used a sealer on the bolt threads that when cold it held the bolts that go through the timing cover into the engine tight and those bolts snapped off right behind the heads of the bolts. Then I had to fight to get the timing cover off to get the broken bolts out of the engine.
When I do the actual job the next morning I am always sure to lay each bolt out as it comes off of the engine so I am sure they go back where they came from. Sometimes a bolt may be 1/4" or 1/2" shorter than the others and not getting a bolt into a hole enough and starting to tighten it down can cause you to strip threads in the timing cover.
ALWAYS seperate the rear cover from the new/rebuilt pump and permatex or sealer-up that gasket on both sides too! You will see this gasket already in place behind the back cover with two bolts holding the cover onto the pump. After getting it sealed on both sides be sure to tighten the bolts back up good.
Use a stiff wire brush to clean the threads on ALL bolts that you remove when you take the old pump off of the car. DON'T OVERTIGHTEN any bolts when you reinstall the pump as the timing cover is aluminum and the threads in it can get stripped out. Use torque specifications where needed and have the appropriate torque wrench available to use. Usually you snug bolts, and then torque to a lower spec, and then go around again and torque to the correct spec.
After everything is back together, if I use Permatex #2 as a sealer, and I do, I WARM the engine so the Permatex cures to the mated parts and then do my coolant filling when the car cools back down.
Be patient, it may take a half day or more to do this job. Don't rush, take notes if you need to, draw bolt pattern as you see the bolts on the car on a piece of paper and number each one and then mark each bolt you remove with the corresponding number in the picture so you know where each goes back on the car. The tags can be held in place by bread bag ties.
IF you have extra bolts afterwards, OOPS, you shouldn't.
The tensioner bolt is either 16mm or 18mm. When you are ready to remove the belt it will take a lot of effort to get enough shack pulled UP on the tensioner to remove the belt from the alternator. When you let down on the tensioner it will take whatever you pulled up on it with a long way to its resting place so be prepared and wear leather work gloves so the fan shroud doesn't slice your hand open.