Should I replace my water pump?
- Thread starter Jay3702
- Start date
Do they fail, or just start seeping, and is the 5.0 designed that it leaks internal to the engine like some of the Ford V6's.
The only time I'd be worried about a water pump failing is if it dumps coolant into the oil, otherwise, they mostly seem to fail slow, so you have plenty of warning.
The only time I'd be worried about a water pump failing is if it dumps coolant into the oil, otherwise, they mostly seem to fail slow, so you have plenty of warning.
The only time i'd preventatively replace a water pump is on a car where it's driven by the timing belt or chain and you're already working on the timing components, or possibly if you're replacing a bad fan clutch on a car where the fan clutch runs off the water pump pulley and it's a pain to get the fan and everything off., otherwise preventatively replacing the pump is just a waste of time and money.
In the distant past I worked "way up North" literally at the end of a little traveled, poorly maintained and probably dangerous highway. We had a discussion of what age of vehicle would be the best to take on that trip.
The consensus was that a new vehicle wasn't all that reliable and neither was an old vehicle. Most reliable would be a 1 year old vehicle. Second choice would be an older vehicle. So if you want the maximum reliability the best time to have changed your water pump would have been last year.
Since you missed the best time, I'd suggest you wait and replace it when the old one fails.
If you're really feeling paranoid you could carry a new one with you. That would save the time to get one shipped to a service center.
The consensus was that a new vehicle wasn't all that reliable and neither was an old vehicle. Most reliable would be a 1 year old vehicle. Second choice would be an older vehicle. So if you want the maximum reliability the best time to have changed your water pump would have been last year.
Since you missed the best time, I'd suggest you wait and replace it when the old one fails.
If you're really feeling paranoid you could carry a new one with you. That would save the time to get one shipped to a service center.
dnewton3
Staff member
No; it's not time yet. These are not high risk pumps.
If it's not making a noise, loose, etc, then there's no reason to worry about it.
Also, at worst, if it had to be replaced during one of the trips, it's a fairly quick job.
If it's not making a noise, loose, etc, then there's no reason to worry about it.
Also, at worst, if it had to be replaced during one of the trips, it's a fairly quick job.
Out of curiosity, where did you hear this?
F150 forums
I did the one on my Mustang in 2021 when it had 62,958miles. I was actually changing out the cooling fan to a GT-500 one when I saw the weephole showing crusty coolant. If you do it, make sure to keep a close eye on the T shaped hose that goes on the upper hose and t-stat housing, they leak a lot.
If it means anything I keep these pumps in stock.
If it means anything I keep these pumps in stock.
Take a look at it. Is it dry around the pump? Remove the belt and spin the water pump feeling for roughness or looseness in the bearings. If all passes well - leave it alone. You have a much higher risk of new/reman parts store pump going bad them that OEM one. You could literally possibly go anothe 20-30k miles or more on your OEM pump....yet you could put a new one on today and have it fail in a month due to parts quality being so spotty now.
I would think that the complaints on those forums would not be a significant sample size of total F150’s that have 5.0l’s, therefore, not really a reliable source of how “common” the failures really are. I would be willing to bet that a far greater number have pumps that surpass that magic 100k number by quite a bit.
Reading about “common” failures and problems on a platform where people go to complain or seek advice about a problem can lead you down a rabbit hole. There’s not too many forum posts that consist of people just starting a thread that says, “My car has never had a problem in 200k miles.”
According to the internet, I should have yanked my cam and lifters a long time ago.
Not telling you what to do, but mine let loose on a 14 5.0 6 yrs old and maybe 65000 miles.
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I also heard about the waterpump as a common failure on Ford 5.0. I have a 2017 F150 5.0 and bought a pump to bring with on our last big road trip.
I would inspect it based on the guidance above and buy a pump to bring with. A gates pump was ~$50, seemed like a good backup.
I would inspect it based on the guidance above and buy a pump to bring with. A gates pump was ~$50, seemed like a good backup.
Do they fail suddenly and then not work, or do they just all of a sudden start weeping and you can drive them (monitoring coolant loss of course) for a bit afterward?
I have a water pump for my LS engine with 240,000 miles. Since I paid for it I might as well install it. Rock Auto had it for much less than the GM dealer.
