i came home yesterday to find water pouring out from under my car. i think it is the water pump. i tightened all the hoses i can see, and checked for ruptures. i saw none. that damned AC unit is in the way, preventing me from positively identifying the problem. i hate snakeoil products, but is that radiator stop leak product a possible fix? i know it isnt the radiator. any ideas of what/where the problem could be?
Roadrage; take a look at the by-pass hose from the waterpump to the thermostat housing. Mine went out, and sprayed water everywhere. Just a small tear, but caused a lot of problems. It is a lot of fun to change, especially with A/C. Good luck, and let us know. Earl
Water Leak Is water running out like a faucet or is it a drip or small leak? There should be a weep hole on the bottom of the water pump snout. A leak there would indicate a bad pump seal, grab hold of the fan and see if you can wiggle it at all, if it has a lot of movement then the pump bearing is shot and has caused the seal to leak in most cases. If the water is pouring out, check the block for rusted out freeze plugs. Sealer products will work in some cases on radiator leaks, but it is only a temporary fix. Good Luck anyway.
unhappy camper the water seems to be a very deliberate/constant drip. it is worse when the car is not running, and comes out even faster if i remove the radiator cap. AC/PS/accessories/etc.. are nice, if they work and the car is running properly. But in my case... i wish they didnt make my car with power steering, and the AC doesnt work anyway. therefore its making my waterpump (or whatever it is) ordeal, IMPOSSIBLE! what was Ford thinking when they engineered the front part of a 302 motor? (particularly in a maverick) in an attempt to positively identify were the leak is coming from (which i was unable to do), i removed all the hoses and inspected them. they all appear to be good. what waterpump bolts i was able to access (probably half of them are either not visable, or unaccessable without removing the AC unit, thermostat housing, etc) were tightened. some were not particularly tight. the top of the water pump gasket was kinda broken up and squished out. a good candidate for the problem, but still inconclusive. i did grab the fan and pull on it for slack. i guess this would tell me if i had a bad water pump bearing, but it seemed pretty tight. however, it might appear as if the water was coming out of the backside of the waterpump snout. obviously, i cannot see it to determine for sure. however, ive never experienced any noise from the water pump nor overheating problems. luckily, i have another car. but driving a 90 chevy wagon kinda sucks. it looks like im gonna have to play it safe and replace the waterpump and gaskets. yall all know what a major hassle that is on our V8 mavericks. and i hate it like hell, but i will probably just go on ahead and remove the AC and all its components while there. how many of yall would kill to have an AC in your maverick? oh well... the wagon has AC and i ultimately wanted to hotrod the maverick anyhow.
