Been noticing some white specks on the inside of the front fenders. When I changed the oil on Tuesday, I discovered a bunch of white calcium "stuff" on the bottom of the water pump.

To my surprise, I discovered the Extended Powertrain Warranty covered the water pump. My dealer installed a new one today. Car has 39K.

Bottom line is if you have white "stuff" on the crank pulley and the crank sensor connector, check your water pump...

 

A bit of news: its not likely the water pump, but instead, a cracked thermostat housing.
Many of them have cracked and will leak, eventually you'll get stranded due to it breaking.

The thermostat housing is plastic crap and is one of the biggest points of failure on a V6.

 

A true engineering marvel on that POS. It has to stand heat, cold, pressure, vibration and chemical attack and it is made from two pieces of sonic welded plastic. Mine failed completely at the worst possible time on the autocross track. It is simple to replace though, unless you have a new X-Charger Xtreem, and can be found pretty cheap at RockAuto online.

 

where does it fail? does the plastic crack in a certain spot? my reservoir has gone from full to empty is about 6 months. I don't see any or smell any leaking coolant but if i knew where or what to look for i could rule it out.

 

Are the replacements also plastic or can you find them cast?

 

They generally fail at the seem where the top is sonic weld to the bottom housing although they can also crack other places. This can start as just a small drip or very small stream of water but can drain your system pretty fast. Another thing to look for is the temperature sensor that plugs into the housing. The O-ring can develop a leak. Ford does not sell just the O-ring but only the entire sensor of which they are quite proud of cost wise. I found a O-ring at the local hardware store the fit better then the stock one for just pennies.

Unfortunately through all my research I don't believe a metal one is available. If some finds one please let us all know!

 

FWIW, this was indeed the pump leaking, out of the bottom weep hole...

 

That's sad for such low miles. But yeah, seeping out the weep hole is a good indication of the pump failing.

 

well i jumped the gun and got a thermostat housing but i think its the pump. what do you guys think. i guess i should place another order for a pump and gasket. do you think this is from the "weap" hole?




As you can see the thermostat housing look ok for now.

 

Looks like the water pump. It is a pretty easy job, but the bolts on either side of the radiator hose at the top are hidden and a little hard to see. Also, on my car there is the power steering line that blocked access to one bolt. I couldn't get a socket on it, but an closed end ratcheting wrench fit okay.

I found it easier to get to all 12 bolts using my friend's lift. I could get the bottom bolts a lot easier, and was able to see one of the hidden bolts at the top a little easier from underneath. It was nice to be able to move the car up and down to make it easier to do the work - but could have done it in the driveway with the car on ramps if I had to.