3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... January 04, 2006, 08:19:52 AM Hello again!I'm not sure if you remember, but I had a problem with strange squeking noise comming from the engine under load. The sound gone after a highway trip, but I could hear some random and intermittent squeaks especialy after startup or under heavier load.I think it's a water pump making this noise! Water pump seems to leak from time to time and when I've put small plastic tube into that hole on the bottom of the pump there was something like rusty grease there (but it wasn't greasy).I have a few water pump related questions:1. Is it easy to replace water pump in 3.8 engine?2. Is there something I should watch for while replacing it?3. Please listen to the two mp3 sounds of engine where you will hear that squeking sound and please tell me if it may be water pump bearing:http://www.americangranada.com/pics/engine_sound-1.mp3http://www.americangranada.com/pics/engine_sound-2.mp34. I got a Prestone FLUSH 'N' FILL kit mostly to make the filling of the cooling system easier and I was wondering which is the heater inlet hose? The instruction says I should put the flushing and filling TEE on the inlet hose and it seems that I can't put it on the inlet hose in my 3.8 as it goes thru the intake manifold! Can I put the TEE on the second hose?Thanks in advance for help! Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #1 – January 04, 2006, 10:26:16 AM i can answer 1 & 2. Stuck in the middle of the water pump on my 87 cat till it gets warmer, and it sucks. All accesories need to come off(for the most part) I broke my timing chain cover while doing it, so I have a ways to go, but it is pretty open an shut.Aint much there but the water pump, maybe the belt, maybe the fan clutch. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #2 – January 04, 2006, 12:21:51 PM Quote from: Haystacki can answer 1 & 2. Stuck in the middle of the water pump on my 87 cat till it gets warmer, and it sucks. All accesories need to come off(for the most part) I broke my timing chain cover while doing it, so I have a ways to go, but it is pretty open an shut.How did you break the timing chain cover? While trying to separate the pump from it? Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #3 – January 04, 2006, 05:06:35 PM The water pump is easy to replace. The only hang up would be if the bolts are siezed up. Take the fan shroud and radiator out to give yourself plenty of room to work. One of the long bolts is supposed to get pipe sealant on the threads. The paper work with the new pump should show where it is.The noise may be the belt slipping, is it too loose? Any of the belt driven things could be starting to seize up causing the belt to slip.Take the belt off and see if every thing spins free. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #4 – January 04, 2006, 08:37:39 PM yeah i was rushing it and missed a bolt.now I have all of the pulleys off and am dropping the oil pan. not recommended. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #5 – January 05, 2006, 07:15:49 PM It seems that somebody was doing something with the engine in my T-bird before. It's visible on many bolts that they weren't factory tightened. The oil pan was dropped for sure too. Also the hood was taken off once - it's suspicious. The car was serviced by Ford in Germany, so I guess I could check the records somehow. They aren't available worldwide, so I can check them in Germany only.From what I've just seen the water pump was put back on the silicone, so it should be easy to separate it from the timing chain cover. I got an Airtex water pump and the instructions doesn't show the bolts at all! Wonder if there is someone who remember which bolt has a pipe sealant on the threads? Is it plastic or metal tube?As for the slipping belt... if the belt isn't tightened (waving a little) the sqeaking sound is gone. If I tighten it the sound gets worse. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #6 – January 05, 2006, 07:36:24 PM Quote from: ShevrettiWonder if there is someone who remember which bolt has a pipe sealant on the threads? Is it plastic or metal tube?I believe it is a long bolt on the lower-left side [there are three bolt lengths]. You'll know it's the one because coolant will spill out of the bolt hole when you remove it. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #7 – January 07, 2006, 03:20:04 PM Make sure the impeller blades on the old and new pump are the same. There are clockwise and counter clockwise versions of these pumps. With the serpentine belt you should have the CCW version. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #8 – February 16, 2006, 04:29:59 PM It got a little warmer here outside, so it's about 45F in my garage now. I thought that I could try to replace the water pump in my T-bird this weekend.I've looked around all the stuff under the hood and I found out that one or even three bolts that hold the P/S pump and A/C compressor are going thru the water pump! :(Do I have to remove the whole bracket to take the pump out?How long time does it take to replace the pump? Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #9 – February 17, 2006, 02:34:30 AM I'm wondering if it's possoble to loose the accesories bracket and move it aside somehow to get to the pump? It would be kinda odd if I'll have to take the A/C compressor out and than look for someone who has R12 to refill the system. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #10 – February 17, 2006, 03:17:30 PM I'll take a look at my engine after I get off work. You don't need to unhook any A/C lines, that is for sure. I believe you need to pull the P/S pulley off to remove the bolts holding the PS bracket to the head/WP. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #11 – February 17, 2006, 04:23:26 PM Haystack, i can give you a timing chain cover for free if you want it you just have to pay for the shipping. actually if anybody needs anything free for a 3.8 let me know and its yours, again you cover shipping. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #12 – February 20, 2006, 05:31:05 PM Thanks for all your tips you mentioned. I replaced the pump last weekend! It's all OK now. It doesn't leak and there's no more annoying sound under the hood.I was so happy driving my T-bird today, but my happiness ended when I almost crashed it! :( That wasn't nice morning for me. The 3-way road was wet, I was driving to work following a few cars. Suddenly one car changed his way and hit the other car. They all started to brake. I slammed on the brakes too, so the wheels locked and I changed my traction a little to the track on the right than I truned back to the way I was going but got close to the curb so I turned back, still skidding and finally stopped. Thanfully I haven't hit anything! Hope the suspension is still OK after this hi-speed slalom. Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #13 – February 26, 2006, 01:48:23 AM Pls ignore this post. Sorry Quote Selected
3.8 '87 T-bird water pump questions... Reply #14 – February 26, 2006, 09:32:36 AM NOOB! j/k. you could actually delete the post all together. Quote Selected
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