Coolant leak at front of pulley/pump

[HOOKED ON GT]

Had the car idling and when I came back I could hear a random squeaking sound coming from the front of the engine..... + some serious sling up on the rear compartment glass.
I look under car when I get it home and up on the lift and see a leak (not much at all when running) but when stopped it was pretty solid coming from the front area of the pump pulley and running back a little to the engine direction and then down the 45 deg main arterial line and then dripping fully off at the main line hose fitting junction.

I think Im inline for a new pump as I think the seal in the nose for the bearing isn't working and its leaking out.

I think I'll loosen the bolts on the pump/pulley and release the tensioner and see what's happening behind the pulley.

Anybody out there have or know about getting hold of a pump.

Stu

 

[ByeEnzo]

Some members have had a belt rub a coolant line resulting in a leak. Very close tolerances at front end of the motor and firewall.

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

The pressed in cap is the leak location
I get the belt/pulley off quickly whilst it was pouring out and straight away found see the drip off point and then put a towel on the cap and the dripping stopped.
New pump needed I guess

 

[B.M.F.]

you can get a new wp at ford

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

Are there any do and don’ts with replacing the water pump I can imagine they could be a fair amount of water pour out when I take it off?

 

[2112]

you can get a new wp at ford

Do you have the part #?

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

I rang my parts supplier here this morning gave them the last eight digits of the Vin and he took it from there

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

Seems that the GT pump ended up on 2011+ Shelby 5.8 engines

 

[B.M.F.]

Are there any do and don’ts with replacing the water pump I can imagine they could be a fair amount of water pour out when I take it off?

you'll have to drain the coolant down.. If you don't want to make a huge mess pull the allen pipe plugs out of both sides of the block from underneath when its on the lift. They are behind the motor mounts. That will drain the coolant from the block so when you pull the water pump it wont leak all over. I would remove drivers seat, have to remove sub, center counsel and then the panel behind the sub.

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

How much should I take out of the block in volume to get the tide low enough for pump removal with little mess
I took out pass seat for engine access
I thought it was better for my right handiness

I was thinking that those Allen plugs real tight/hard to get out?

I just test fitted the Allen key and they must be imperial as a 6mm is loose and 7mm no go

 

[B.M.F.]

How much should I take out of the block in volume to get the tide low enough for pump removal with little mess
I took out pass seat for engine access
I thought it was better for my right handiness

I was thinking that those Allen plugs real tight/hard to get out?

I just test fitted the Allen key and they must be imperial as a 6mm is loose and 7mm no go

they should not be too bad.. you would need to drain till they quit leaking coolant.

 

[Howard]

When you succeed please write up the procedure you used for the rest of us.

 

[Vincent998]

At about 28,000 miles and some undefined distance before that, my water pump leaked out the weep hole (spattered the belt and clamshell glass with coolant), and at 28,000 miles, if I remember correctly, Ryan P. (CoolTech) replaced it from the bottom of the car and did not disturb anything in the cabin (I'm sure if I'm wrong, Kendall will correct me ...) We did not remove the block plugs, just drained the coolant as a normal change. The new pump appeared to be a better casting and had a different impeller design, and the impeller was a smaller diameter than the original.

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

PROBLEM = excessive splatter on engine bay glass.
Notice when I look into engine bay lots of humidity coming up from front of engine and a squeaking sound.

START ON THE ISSUE = can’t really see exactly the location of the leak/dripping (way worse once engine turned off)
Took out pass seat and sub and access panel.

Could see the leak but not sure exactly of it origin point.
I check up higher to start there ….nothing

Spoke to Jason Heffner and says to take pump wheel off (loosen bots when belts still on) as pump wheels hiding my view.

Got the engine warm and rushed to get the pulley off (took vid of belts Orientation before removing)
whilst it’s in gush mode for a few min.

Had kids/wife help me a few times on working the breaker bar on the drivers side tensioner.

Few min later I have pulley off and can see the drip off point half way along the pump.

I put a towel on the pressed in cap (quarter sized) under pulley and straight away it stops.

ISSUE SOLVED PUMP IS TOAST

Order from ford a new pump (also fits 5.8l 2011+ Shelby Cobras
Price around $330

HOW TO RELEASE COOLANT
Decided to undo the 6mm hose clamps in the 4 way junction at the exit of the pump

Took pics of the clamps to copy when putting back to factory marked locations.

Took the two smaller hoses off and the cabin side main arterial so I could grab the 4 way connector and wiggle the stumpy section that’s connected to pump.

A little messy but not a huge amount of coolant comes out but you’ll get wet.

Headed back to the cabin and looked at the new pump and used that so I knew what bolts undo.

Not too tricky to get out but I did a vid of its twists and turns when backing out.

Added a little smear of oil on the sealing ring and set it in place.
Made sure it was pretty parallel to block and gently went across the bolts and tightened it up to med final level.

Added pump wheel back on.
Says 18lbft but I didn’t have a torque wrench so copied what effort it felt like to remove.
Checked pulley video and made sure that everything still made sense and ribs sitting flush before the tensioner was flexed and she’s set

Top up water (distilled) and needed over a gallon (but didn’t loose near that much when pump removed)
Also added a few cups (approx) of concentrate anti freeze. (Live in Orlando so not cold)

Started it up and let it get hot and level was just above bottom baffle after 15min

Did hear some squealing from the front of engine but I think that’s the old coolant running off and then it stopped

Lifted car up and checked for leaks and not a drop to be found.

Now need to clean the engine glass and spray some brake cleaning and get rid of the white spots on fire wall
Add the two rear most belly pans and head out to try the new 3:90 rear end….. it’s a blast now

 

[Howard]

Well done! I know where I'm going if my pump needs works. I'm in Venive, FL.

 

[GT@50]

Is that a chunk of material missing from the pump?

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

Well done! I know where I'm going if my pump needs works. I'm in Venive, FL.

It’s not hard to do to be honest

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

Is that a chunk of material missing from the pump?

That’s the exit hole for when the systems gone tits up
When it’s dry let it fly.
It’s the leak out indicator that you need to replace.
The excessive sling on glass is the first thing to notice

 

[KJD]

I love it, strong work, figured you might want to protect those hands though.

I especially love the part about your wife and kids pitching in with some muscle, LOL.

Straightforward job with good directions but you're being modest about degree of difficulty.

Almost certain most owners would not tackle this task, thanks for posting!

 

[HOOKED ON GT]

If level 1 is taking wheels off and level 2 is doing a pad change and level 10 is building a GT ground up….this is a 3
I was worried it was going to be a 5+ but was glad the only thing to remove/loosen was the belt and some hoses and the pump.

Seat isn’t hard to take out (just protect exit sill with blanket when removing and on install) and access panel I gently pried off with fingers but I’ve had it off before so that might have helped me get it started (best to do in hot FL) way easier then cold days

The Butyl black sealer will bind back again when you whack it back on.
I have some spare if it’s not sealed perfect
It looked tight in there and I was fretting over other stuff to be taken out from the front of engine to get the pump out….. no worries needed

I guess it’s not a common job on the GT but mine needed it

I have a 4 post lift so big help