Which Water Pump ?

[Peter Delaney]

Hi guys,

I had a bit of vibration kick in above 4000rpm the other day, so got to looking - water pump pulley was wobbling 1/2 to 1mm at idle, but pulled into line with a few extra revs.

Pulled out the seats & engine panel, grabbed the pulley & sure enough - free play - clunk, clunk ! I loosened the belt & sure enough, it is the w/pump bearing (not just loose pulley bolts as I had hoped !) - out with the pump.

I have a new pump that I think came with the car originally, but it is quite different internally - it is the one on the left in the following pic.

Now for the questions :

- Is my old one on the right correct anyway ? I have V-belts, & it looks like it might be ok for a clockwise engine rotation (when looking at the front of the engine, or anti-clockwise when looking at the pic). The weird thing is that there is no "slant" on the blades like the new pump - all I can see it doing is throwing water outwards (& not very efficiently) no matter which direction it rotates.

- Is the new one (on the left) a serpentine belt version (reverse rotation) ? It sure looks like it would only work (sucking from the centre & spinning the water outwards) if it rotates anti-clockwise when viewed from the engine / clockwise when viewed in the pic).

Another interesting difference is the shape of the water ports in the cover plates - the old one on the right "sort of" matches the shape of the water ports in my timing chain cover (square), but the holes in the new pump plate are round.

Any guidance as to which pump is correct for my V-belt setup would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Scott McDill]

Peter,

I have a reverse rotation pump (94-95 mustang and explorer). it has the same angle and curve on the impeller as the one on the left.

 

[Scott McDill]

Also check your timing cover. They are different depending on pump rotation. If that pump was on your engine you might need to change the cover. The cover below is corect for V belt. Note the orientation of the coolent openings

 

[Scott McDill]

This is a reverse rotation cover.

 

[Peter Delaney]

Thanks Scott - it all fits now (at least in my head) !

My engine is a '95 Mustang & I remember having to change the timing chain cover from one like your pic#2 to one like pic#1. I had bought all of the "front of engine" bits from RF for their V-belt setup - alt, a/c, brackets, timing chain cover & w/pump. I had not realised that there was a "rotation" aspect to the covers - at the time, I changed it simply to get the old-style fuel pump mount which the RF setup uses to hang the a/c compressor bracket off - dumb luck, I guess ! Similarly, I used the w/pump that came from RF - so the unused one in my pic must have been a new replacement for the original '95 setup using a serpentine belt.

Now I know what I am looking for ! Thanks again Scott.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Scott McDill]

Peter,

Before you run out and buy a 94/95 mustang pump I must tell you that I was using that pump only in reference to the impeller, and therefore that it was reverse rotation. Yours look more like mid 80-early 90s truck serpentine type. (which are reverse rotation)

Ford made three main types of timing cover, each with a different type of pump. To make matters more confusing some pumps have outlets on the driver side and others on the passenger side. The cover below is from the 94/95 mustang. as you can see it is very different and so is the pump. I think all of the pumps that fit this cover have driver side outlet. Some of these covers have fuel pump bosses and some don't, or it may be blocked off. Some have provision for a dipstick tube.

So if your cover looks like the first one a 68-85 mustang pump should fit

If it looks like the seccond one the pump would be from 87-94 bronco or van, or 87-95 F series pickup. I dont know which ones have driver side outlet.

If it looks like the one below 94-95 mustang will fit. I think all of them are driver side outlet. Hope this helps

 

[Peter Delaney]

Thanks Scott - I definitely have a timing cover the same as in your first pick - standard rotation with the fuel pump fitting, so I am chasing a 68-85 Mustang (or Falcon / Fairlane equivalent).

My '95 Mustang engine was originally set as per stock - serpentine belt & timing cover #2. I had an experience with my old '89 Vette & a serpentine belt - the A/C compressor failed, but here in Oz, you don't just rock down to the local GM dealer to pick up a new one - it had to go to Melbourne for a re-build. 3 weeks later, it finally came back, but there was no driving for the 3 weeks ! Hence my conversion of the '95 Mustang to V-belts. On reflection, I could have stayed with a serpentine setup & just made up a fake idler wheel to replace the a/c pump if necessary - however, I have now spent too much on alloy v-belt pulleys to go back ! I have a real mental block about high revs - I just can't seem to bring myself to take it much over 5000rpm - so the high revs advantage of a serpentine setup probably doesn't matter too much in my case.

Thanks for all your help - I'll let you know how it all ends up.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

Peter,
Possibly a bit left field, but i have used a Davies Craig electric water pump for two years now in my culbman. Absolutley fabulous! Possible option for a sb ford engine?

 

[Peter Delaney]

Tim, thats a damn good alternative. As somebody once said, "Hindsight is a wonderful thing" ! If I hadn't been in such a bloody rush to get ready for rego, it certainly would have been near the top of my list of options.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.