Ok so I have a 96 F-150 300 straight 6, Best truck Ive ever had besides the bed. Anyway I noticed she overheating so I thought thermostat. so a new thermostat, gasket, and housing are in place due to the old 1 craking. I filled the rad and anti-freeze started leaking out BAD. At first I thought Bad rad. Checked and nothing, then I looked toward the water pump and found my leak. So I have a bad water pump. Right??let me know if am or not and If theres any suggestions out there if I am wrong.




Also How hard and what do i need to remove the fan? Again please let me know thanks Steve

 

Upon further investigation, Its not the water pump but the thermostat housing itself. Either something didnt line up, the new 1 is cracked or it wasnt on tight enough. Im open for suggestions, and comments

 

Have you checked closely and retightened all hose clamps in the area? I had a thermostat hose and its hose clamp leak water out that capillaried all the way out and over to where it made it appear the water pump bolts were leaking. You used the thermostat housing gasket and some ATV sealant or equivalent? Did you clean/scrape the gasket surfaces when you took off the old housing? You may just need some good light in there to really see where the leak is really starting from?

 

atv sealent like permatex?

 

the old housing cracked so i got a brand new one

 

So you have had two cracked thermostat housings? Glad you found it. That's the way the cooling system is, it will keep finding the next weakest link. The best time to check for leaks is after shutting down a warmed up truck (when the upper radiator hose is pressured up). I carefully feel around hose connections for coolant that might dry up as it leaks. It's awesome having a perfect cooling system. I can idle or sit in hot summer rush hour traffic and the needle stays exactly where it is. Only a hairline movement when thermostat first opens.