I've been having some intermittent intercooler pump noise on my M90 supercharged Mustang. Every now any again, it would buzz noticeably, and then reset when I turned the car off. I took to the dealership a while ago, and of course, they were unable to replicate the problem, so they did not replace the pump.

The other morning, I noticed the pump again, but a lower buzzing. So, I decided to look more deeply into the issue on the forums, read about some ways to test it, and found the following on my car:

1) Looked into the intercooler reservoir with the car running, and there is no "turbulence."
2) Drove the car an hour into work, left the car running, and looked again and no "turbulence."
3) Stuck my finger into the reservoir, and the coolant was warm (finger test says about 120 degrees or so).

My understanding is the pump should always be on, so I should always see turbulence.

I think the pump may be out, or working intermittently. Not sure about the coolant temp... it may supposed to be around 120 (cooler than the engine coolant), but I'm not 100% sure.

Any help here?

 

Pump is on all the time...if you turn the ignition to on (don't start the car) you should hear it running. If you look inside the reservoir, you would see the coolant being circulated.

 

Put something over the reservoir that you can blow into or just wrap your lips around the opening and blow. Maybe cup your hands around the opening, you don't want to get coolant in your mouth. You could have an air bubble before the pump preventing the coolant from flowing.

You should see a **** storm of coolant swirling around in the reservoir, it's very noticeable. the gt500's don't have the pump running all the time, it comes on at a certain temp. I'm not sure how roush does theirs, but whipple keeps the pump on when the keys on.

You can burn the pump up quickly if it's not circulating coolant. I've read these bosch pumps only last 2-3 years, but I've got over 5 out of mine.

 

Will check on the bubble thing, thanks. My pump is going on five years, so it may be going / already gone.

 

Oh, then I better order a replacement too, since I'm keeping this ride!!!

 

This video might help, at least you can see how the coolant should be moving.
http://youtu.be/4ckbYVpPG18

 

Interesting vid. Wonder if something similar can be done with a Mity Vac or something similar to generate the pressure to kick the bubbles out.

 

This is what I used...

http://www.tooltopia.com/uview-550000.aspx

Also make sure the wire connects to the pump/body...I had to scratch off some paint.

 

Pump kicked on last night when I turned the key. Took the key out, reinserted, turned key on again and no pump. Spoke to Roush this morning, and they think it is likely a relay / short, since the pump should always be on with the key.

 

How is the pump wired?