Water pump failure leads to dead engine

[Flying68]

Yeah....If I had one of these engines and was at 130K I would definitely be installing new pump for preventative maintenance... you're close to the "pushing it" mileage as it is. What's the latest on class action? I re-emailed the/a law firm involved in this I didn't get a response this time..

There are 187 5th Gen V6 Explorers listed on Cars.com right now with 150,000+ miles. I would bet of those maybe only 1 has had a water pump changed. The highest has 283,000 miles. Internet forums are the worst places to gauge how often a failure occurs because the vast majority of owners don't post just to say my vehicle has been perfect and works great.

 

[peterk9]

I agree totally. BTW, my vehicle is perfect and runs great.

Peter

 

[KayGee]

There are 187 5th Gen V6 Explorers listed on Cars.com right now with 150,000+ miles. I would bet of those maybe only 1 has had a water pump changed. The highest has 283,000 miles. Internet forums are the worst places to gauge how often a failure occurs because the vast majority of owners don't post just to say my vehicle has been perfect and works great.

Nothing personal, but your post is purely speculative and comical. You have no idea what the repair history is of any of the vehicles you mentioned, unless one is yours and you have first hand knowledge.

You don't have law firms trolling for clients if there isn't a sufficiently large percentage of vehicles that have problems.

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

My dealer services 1500 Fords a month. Service mgr said they don't have many water pumps on 3.5, maybe 1 to 2 a month.
He had nothing to lose by being honest.

(These aren't as bad as head gaskets on Windstars... )

 

[Adrian Gitch]

My dealer services 1500 Fords a month. Service mgr said they don't have many water pumps on 3.5, maybe 1 to 2 a month.
He had nothing to lose by being honest.

(These aren't as bad as head gaskets on Windstars... )

That's kind of bad (or not?)considering there's 3000+ Ford dealers in the US and only one dealer has 1 to 2 a month water pump problems for the 3.5. Although I'm sure there's many dealers that haven't had any water pump problems. I know that's not bad for your dealer considering they service 1500, but I wonder how many of those had 3.5's in them.

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

It was anecdotal....not many of them.

 

[KayGee]

My dealer services 1500 Fords a month. Service mgr said they don't have many water pumps on 3.5, maybe 1 to 2 a month.
He had nothing to lose by being honest.

(These aren't as bad as head gaskets on Windstars... )

The auto industry and dealers are not known for their honesty and ethics...

The below excerpt is from https://jalopnik.com/ford-knew-how-defective-its-fiesta-and-focus-transmissi-1836273922

The automaker pushed past company lawyers’ early safety questions and a veteran development engineer’s warning that the cars weren’t roadworthy, internal emails and documents show. Ford then declined, after the depth of the problem was obvious, to make an expensive change in the transmission technology.

Instead, the company kept trying to find a fix for the faulty transmission for five years while complaints and costs piled up. In the interim, Ford officials prepared talking points for dealers to tell customers that the cars operated normally when, in fact, internal documents are peppered with safety concerns and descriptions of the defects.

 

[bigdude2468]

I have a niece with a 2011 Edge, 160,000 miles, 3.5 liter engine so she has the internal water pump. She asked me about what kind of services she needs at 160 K? Her records show a major service at 90,000 miles. Besides having the PTU replaced they changed power steering fluid, brake fluid, rear differential, trans flush and spark plugs. Interesting that they did not do a coolant change. I advised her to have the coolant changed. So should she spend $1000+ to have the water pump replaced? They plan on keeping the car for their soon to be 16 yo son so having this vehicle for another three or four years is likely.

 

[Flying68]

I have a niece with a 2011 Edge, 160,000 miles, 3.5 liter engine so she has the internal water pump. She asked me about what kind of services she needs at 160 K? Her records show a major service at 90,000 miles. Besides having the PTU replaced they changed power steering fluid, brake fluid, rear differential, trans flush and spark plugs. Interesting that they did not do a coolant change. I advised her to have the coolant changed. So should she spend $1000+ to have the water pump replaced? They plan on keeping the car for their soon to be 16 yo son so having this vehicle for another three or four years is likely.

Depending on condition, trim, and options that vehicle is worth anywhere from $4500 to $9500. So if it is worth $7000, a water pump job would be around 20% of the value of the car. There is little reason to change the pump at this point.

 

[KayGee]

Depending on condition, trim, and options that vehicle is worth anywhere from $4500 to $9500. So if it is worth $7000, a water pump job would be around 20% of the value of the car. There is little reason to change the pump at this point.

The flip side is that if the wp fails and takes out the engine, it could be close to the value of the vehicle to replace the engine.

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer and the last place I would take advice on an issue like this is from a bunch of random strangers on the interwebz. It's good anecdotal info and fun reading, but it's no different than stock trading or medical/health advice, neither of which I would recommend going to the internet for either.

Only the owner can decide what is best for them and what risk mitigation strategy they want to pursue (pm, roll the dice, sell the vehicle and get something else).

 

[Keith N]

I would guess when you open up the engine you may be faced with stretched chains and worn guides. You may be looking at $2000+.
If it were me I’d drive it and keep eye on coolant tank level. Teenage driver has a high chance of wrecking car anyway.

 

[CajunHO]

Has the class action water pump leaking into engine causing terminal damage issue bee solved?
I have just learned about this.
Also just learned that if you need to have the water pump replaced the engine has to come out. I have less than 25000 miles left on my warranty so i need to dump this junk before warranty ends.

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

Not a guarantee it will fail....plus you can usually extend the warranty again unless you have 135k like me.

 

[RhinoQuartz]

Not a guarantee it will fail....plus you can usually extend the warranty again unless you have 135k like me.

You can also buy an extended warranty btw, it will just need an inspection.

 

[03WIExplorerLtd]

Yes, but i am at near max mileage for 136k, cant extend the extended at that mileage.

 

[ncsuengineer256]

I have a 2014 Ex Limited 3.5 with about 39k miles on it. Just last night I did my first drain and refill of the coolant. I'm hoping to get ahead of this water pump issue and keep the coolant in good shape. Not saying that will prevent WP failure, but it can only help. And a word of advice, check your local Ford dealership parts counter for the price of coolant, it's way cheaper than amazon.

 

[JAPeterson]

The problem with the water pump is that seals fail and usually the coolant has nothing to do with them except for some lubrication. These seals failing is what is leading to the coolant in the oil.

If you really wanted to try and stay ahead of the failure then you need to do a oil analysis and watch for coolant showing up in it. Then if you do see it before anything major happens you might be able to fix it before the engine is destroyed. But there is no guaranty on this either. You could change your oil and send in a sample and everything is fine but 100 miles later a seal could fail and you won't see it in a analysis until you send in the next one 7000-10,000 miles later.

 

[ncsuengineer256]

So it's the bearing seals inside the water pump that are the culprit? What is causing the seals to wear out prematurely? It's not caused by broken down coolant? They chose bad bearings to use in these pumps?

 

[Keith N]

I am not an expert on water pumps, but I would think the bearing could fail first, then the shaft wobbles so bad it takes out the seal next. The seal could also fail first. Regardless of failure origination, the coolant has the potential to get into the oil. It has never been clear to me in all this discussion if the leak was gradual, or more catastrophic. I think the best way to monitor this is watching the coolant level. A switch is the best, as by the time it triggers, you have only lost half a quart or so of coolant into the oil and can hopefully stop driving and fix the problem. However, I don't recall an easy solution to install a switch. I agree on oil analysis, it could check fine, then the leak starts after the inspection, and it's a pain sending in oil 1-2 times a year at $40 a pop. I think your best comfort is in checking the coolant tank regularly, and understanding this is probably a relatively low probability failure.

 

[boominXplorer]

There is a weep hole behind the alternator that will usually leak there before the coolant goes into the oil on the revised models (2012 or 2013+ depending on model) If your water pump was the dual sprocket then it is the revised one. You could put a moisture sensor in the weep hole on those models and be very effective. The 07-11 models don't usually leak though that same area, they just go into the oil for some reason.