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Change Your Water Pump!

Engine 
7K views 30 replies 9 participants last post by  zzyzzx 
#1 ·
First post here. Been driving a 91LX 1.9 for 3 months after the previous owner told me he replaced the timing belt recently. The water pump locked up on the way home the other day, stripped the timing belt and put me on the side of the road. After a free AAA tow and a few hours later, I am back on the road with a new water pump, tensioner and Gates timing belt. About $75 total.

 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the forums! I agree with changing the water pumps. If I had just bought an Escort and didnt know its history I would need no other reason beyond that to be changing its water pump and timing belt. Its usually the only way to know for certain when the belt and pump were changed.
How many miles were on the engine in this case? Was the water pump likely the original? And did you do the work yourself? I see that the crankshaft pulley, the upper motor mount isolator and the tensioner for the serpentine belt are out of the way; and that the OEM style spring clamp is on the old hose.
I own five 2nd gen Escorts and have rebuilt the engines/transmissions on four of them - which the wife and I use for daily drivers. I bought them each with known mechanical problems. The fifth one is a "as-is" 94LX wagon with 5-speed trans I am working on now, for my daughter.
For me, I have found it 'not at all workable' to get a new lower radiator hose onto the front inlet to the water pump - if the accessory bracket is in the way. The new hoses seem to be a really snug fit, but arent hard to install if the accessory bracket is not in the way. Actually I have done the hose replacement (and water pump replacement) with the engine block still on my workbench. I also prefer using the OEM style spring clamps, in preference to the screw type hose clamps.
I try to keep a sort of journal for each of my Escorts, plus the two others that are in the family - so I know at what date and distance the repairs were done; to remind me to keep up the maintenance/replacements for them.
 
#3 ·
Welcome to the forums! I agree with changing the water pumps. If I had just bought an Escort and didnt know its history I would need no other reason beyond that to be changing its water pump and timing belt. Its usually the only way to know for certain when the belt and pump were changed.
How many miles were on the engine in this case? Was the water pump likely the original? And did you do the work yourself? I see that the crankshaft pulley, the upper motor mount isolator and the tensioner for the serpentine belt are out of the way; and that the OEM style spring clamp is on the old hose.
I own five 2nd gen Escorts and have rebuilt the engines/transmissions on four of them - which the wife and I use for daily drivers. I bought them each with known mechanical problems. The fifth one is a "as-is" 94LX wagon with 5-speed trans I am working on now, for my daughter.
For me, I have found it 'not at all workable' to get a new lower radiator hose onto the front inlet to the water pump - if the accessory bracket is in the way. The new hoses seem to be a really snug fit, but arent hard to install if the accessory bracket is not in the way. Actually I have done the hose replacement (and water pump replacement) with the engine block still on my workbench. I also prefer using the OEM style spring clamps, in preference to the screw type hose clamps.
I try to keep a sort of journal for each of my Escorts, plus the two others that are in the family - so I know at what date and distance the repairs were done; to remind me to keep up the maintenance/replacements for them.
Thank you denisond3. Mileage on the engine is unknown. The odometer turns over at a very rapid rate and is certainly not accurate at all. The water pump looked to be original. The bearing in it failed and the pump impeller fused to the housing. Yes, I do all my own work and did this first Escort timing belt/water pump job in a few hours at my leisure. I own 2 Festivas (Mazda drivetrain) and can do a timing belt on those in an hour or so. In the photo, I had removed the necessary components to gain access to the timing belt. I had already removed the valve cover to determine if the camshaft had quit turning. The lower radiator hose was in fact a tight fit and certainly a poor design to maneuver back unto the water pump inlet.
 
#5 ·
My guess is you are on borrowed time right now. If you are lucky, you may be close to home when it breaks and a tow won't cost much. Luckier still if it holds out long enough for you to get to it before it breaks.
My Focus wagon had 140k when I bought it. The PO never changed the belt. I replaced it and the wp right away. I was victim of a broken belt on my TurboCoupe once. Very inconvenient to say the least.
 
#11 ·
I just did serpentine and tensioner a couple months ago but no wierd noises or leaks from under the timing cover yet. A/C pulley sounds like its getting bumpy. Just had to do one of those on my 05 liberty last month. That has 130k+ on the original pump with no leaks, which was what my s10 had when it went. Granted v6 pumps are so much easier to do.
 
#13 ·
Hey just jumping in here on this thread. My '91 Escort LX is almost at 65,000 miles so I'm gathering the parts and tools to do the timing belt. It's been well-maintained and am wondering if I should do the water pump as well, while I'm in there just as preventative maintenance...or if I can get a fair number of miles out of it yet? I already have a water pump....so it's just a matter of the extra labor (and that dreaded front hose). But given the years and miles should I just bite the bullet and replace it now, too? Thoughts?
 
#20 ·
It ain't on there yet... I'm open to suggestions but we are on a super tight budget.

I saw someone had an issue with the tensioner pulley on the Gates, but it seemed like it was sort of an obvious issue that they only recognized in hindsight (already checked mine and she's nice and smooth and true). Otherwise I haven't really heard boo about them.
 
#22 ·
LOL... Same research that I did. :) I'm trying to buy decent stuff without paying a ton for it and the Gates seems to fit the bill. In a perfect world I'd probably throw a Motorcraft at it, but those things are like $80.

Anyhow, at least on Rock Auto, I was shocked to see that the pump/belt/"tensioner" kits were pretty universally way more expensive than pump/belt separately (including the Gates kit, by almost double the price). I think the pricing might reflect playing on people's ignorance that the pump and the tensioner are integral in this application. I was surprised to see it when I first did a 1.9L.
 
#25 ·
Because on many aftermarket pumps they ARE integral. This was all news to be that they are separate bits depending on manufacturer. The Gates and Autozone pumps are all one part.

Oh.. and I see in your sig you have a '97. On the 2.0L I'm pretty sure they are all separate parts. Not sure if that is the car you're talking about or not.

You really don't want the Motorcraft water pump, since then the tensioner is separate. The one you bought, the tensioner is part of the water pump. This cuts costs.
Oh really? Well, I guess that explains some of the cost! I had always assumed that the first one I did was a Motorcraft, but I guess not! The PO had it done at a dealer but maybe they cheaped out on her for whatever reason?

What's even more interesting is that the Gates stuff is cheaper than Dayco. I certainly wouldn't pay more for a Dayco timing belt when i could get a Gates.
I couldn't agree more. I've had poor results with anything branded as Dayco and will only use them in a pinch. I like the Goodyear (now Continental I believe) "Gatorback" accessory belts and Gates for all other belts and hoses. They've never let me down and wear like iron.

To sorta get back on the topic... New radiator hoses from Rock, in Gates, are $15 for both. No time like a water pump change to tackle that if it needs done (and that's my plan).
 
#31 ·
I've got at least 125K miles on a GMB water pump in my Escort. I'll probably wait until it's tine to change out the timing belt next before changing it again. I just put a new Aisin water pump in a 2000 Camry that had the original water pump at 160K miles. The old pump was fine. If I had to do it over I would have left in in and just changed the timing belt and timing belt tensioners (one of the twoe tensioners had some play in it).
 
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