Ford Falcon AU - Water Pump

[Srimal]

This story follows my personal experience relating to a brilliant and very detailed instruction set written by “Grandpa Spec_AU” on the replacement of the Ford Falcon AU water pump. This was especially useful for a nonprofessional home mechanic such as me. However, I would like to share my experience and lessons learned for the benefit of the forum. This is a long story but I feel it is worthwhile sharing for the benefit of other forum members who are at the same level of motor mechanic experience as me.

I had a small coolant leak visible on the top of the alternator housing in my Falcon AU1 Forte. The bottom horse also appeared somewhat swollen and full of gunk at the pump end. Therefore I decided follow Grandpa’s instructions and replace both the pump and the hose. After a couple of walking trips to the local auto parts store to source the spares and tools which I have forgotten earlier (e.g. 3/8” ratchet, pry bar etc..),

One Sunday afternoon I managed to remove the pump out of the engine housing. It took a bit of force to loosen the pump out of the heater pipe and I had to cut the radiator hose as it was well stuck at the pump end. The first thing I noticed was the corroded heater pipe end which was corroded all the way up to the lip which is meant to hold the O-Ring.

Hindsight Lesson1: This is not a Sunday afternoon job for part time mechanics such as me! Keep aside good two days.

Hindsight Lesson2: Best to get the power steering pump out of the way as per the Uncle_Ken's OP detailed here. As you will find later I had do this twice and in the first attempt it was with the power steering pump still in situ and it was very difficult to maneuver.

Cleaned up the pump face on the engine block with a razor blade and put a lot of gasket goo on the gasket and O-Ring and the side walls on the heater pipe housing and put the pump back together.

Hindsight Lesson3: You need a lot of patience putting the four pump bolts together as there isn’t enough room to work with a ratchet bar while holding the pump (I used my fingers to lightly tighten the bolts one at a time then used a combination of a 10mm spanner and a ¼” ratchet with an extension to fully tighten.

Immediately afterward, I poured the coolant mix which started leaking extensively from the heater pipe end. I ran the engine for about 5 minutes, tried applying more silicone goo while the engine was running to no avail. By then this was around 6:00 pm on a cold winter evening in Canberra. I was knackered to say the least and decided to leave the battle for another day.

Hindsight Lesson4: Let the silicone goo dry up for a considerable time before checking for leaks.

My 2nd attempt was about a week or so later on a Sunday morning. I took the full water pump assembly out (this time first removing the power steering pump out of the way), put a new gasket and a new O-Ring (placing it inside the heater pipe housing on the pump). This time I completely pasted the heater pipe end with silicone goo, injected more goo as I tighten the pump until there was no visible gaps. Then I left the vehicle to dry for another week (purely because I have been so busy at work during this time).

Following Sunday, I poured just water in to the system and found the water still leaked (this time only a drip, a steady rate drip nonetheless). I hadn’t started the engine at this stage as other engine parts (PS pump, fan belt etc.. were still removed). At this stage, realizing that I am unable to fix this leak, I decided that, I will eat my pride and contact a local mechanic who has done some earlier work for me.

Overnight about 2 litres of water had leaked. I had to drive the vehicle about 8km to the mechanic who operated out of Fyshwick (Canberra’s famous industrial park). I was fully prepared with two cans of 5 litres of water and all my tools in the boot, my NRMA card in case if the vehicle stopped on the road. However, the vehicle made it to the mechanic and I told the mechanic’s partner the absolute truth (that my attempted repair had failed due to the heater pipe corrosion and I think heater pipe which circumnavigates the rear of the engine block may need replacing) and left for work.

During the day mechanic rang me to inform that this is a common problem in all Falcons AU’s of this era, and Ford has now redesigned the engine block and this part is obsolete and unobtainable and he is unable to help me. Further, he said that my car is not usable (and it is too old anyway) and I will have to find another car. I was devastated to say the least.

Hindsight Lesson5: I have concluded that the mechanic didn’t like me tampering with the car which made him tell me the car is unusable. I am unsure whether Ford has made this part obsolete (may be true). Knowing that there are 1000’s of AU Falcons of this age on the road, I find it difficult to believe that Ford will make such a part obsolete in a hurry. May be a forum reader can correct me. More importantly, the lesson here is that be absolutely sure the repair can be done at home or seek professional assistance (I mean an accredited person or company).

Undeterred, I contacted the nearest Ford dealer (see hindsight lessons No 5 and 6) and told them my car is leaking from the heater pipe end and I think it is due to corrosion and whether they can repair the vehicle. They agreed they can. I made an appointment for the following day.

At the mechanic’s place that evening when I was picked up the car to take it home, I realized the coolant was still intact from that morning. The leak appears have been sealed. Clearly, all what was needed was a good run under normal operating temperature for the silicone goo to properly seal. There was a slight wetness at the seam near the outer ring of the heater pipe housing of the water pump (wetness on the silicone goo) but no dripping.

Next morning I checked the coolant was still holding, but took the vehicle to the Ford dealer as planned. Ford dealer conducted several pressure tests and told me they are confident that the leak is sealed but recommended putting the correct coolant mix which will bind any remaining leaks (if there were any). They also tightened hose clips etc to be absolutely sure.

Hindsight Lesson6: For this repair at the Ford dealer it cost me about $175 including consumables. For my attempted home repair, it had cost me about $250 or so for parts and tools. However my family (myself, wife and daughter) had to commute in freezing cold Canberra winter mornings and evenings for three weeks. I put the cost of commuting, loss of time and the inconvenience factor at least about $1000. Therefore, all in all about a $1,500 cost impost. I wonder whether there is a lesson to be learned here. However, this experience would not deter me from attempting further repairs on my Falcon and should not deter other budding mechanics. But I would be better prepared next time.