The water pump on my 5.0 has just started squalling at certain RPMs. So, it sounds like it's replacement time, and I'm crossing my fingers that is all that is wrong.

The truck only has 68k miles on it, and I don't have a repair history from the prior owner (58k miles) to see what he may have had done to the truck.

What parts would you recommend having replaced and what service would you recommend being done while the pump is being replaced?

Whether I do it myself or let someone else do the work, I'd like to take care of anything while it's apart instead of having to come back to something in the next 10k-25k miles if it makes sense.

I have not seen any puddles, but the coolant has gotten well below the cold fill line. So, it has been sneaking out on me somewhere. Otherwise, I have no reason to believe the truck hasn't been properly maintained.

 

If we are talking strictly the coolant system and nothing else then i'd say do the thermostat/gasket, belt, and maybe check the condition of your hoses. If they are becoming stiff or show any signs of wear like cracks i'd replace them. Check around the pump and the radiator and things like that to see if anything is damp. It may not be leaking enough to create a puddle but could still be slowly seeping out somewhere and maybe just evaporating from the heat of the engine. You could also run a pressure check on your cooling system and check for leaks that way. I typically do this before and after replacing parts to ensure I did everything correctly.

 

I just went through the same thing. I'd recommend replacing the t-fitting, and all o-rings for the coolant plumbing that you'll be pulling apart.

You'd probably also want to replace both belts, both tensioners, and an idler. Doing that would pretty well mean you didn't have to service the accessory drive for quite a while.

You can also migrate to the replacement Ford yellow coolant.

 

Belts could be squealing and could be leaking from somewhere else. How did you pinpoint the water pump as the culprit?

ive replaced a water pump before and the issue I was having was not fixed. Tread carefully!

 

Good advice so far. Had the same issue about a year to a year and a half ago. I was told by ford that there has been a design change. No injury risk, so no recall, but the t-fitting has changed slightly as it and the o-rings were known to prematurely wear. Since I was replacing the pump anyways, I replaced those at the same time.

 

I heard the original design on the quick connect hoses are ironically, one-time use quick connects, so if you need to pull them off, you need to replace them or replace the seals in them.

I would do idlers and belts, i would move to the yellow coolant, i would sway away from doing the thermostat with those miles at that age.

I'm not normally a proponent of not changing that kind of thing, but i've seen so many threads pop up on here where the problem was sourced back to a faulty replacement thermostat - it's not *exactly* a wear item and there is no real advantage to replacing it now so personally, i would leave that.

 

My 13 5.0 water pump lasted less than 60 miles

 

Thanks for the warning. I have a buddy with a mechanic's stethoscope, and the sound is coming directly from the water pump area. If it you point it at any other area, the sound dies down dramatically. It's theoretically not impossible that it could be a belt squalling in that exact location, but I've never heard a belt make a sound like this at all. I could have a predisposition to believe this based on what research I have done about somewhat common problems, but to me, it sounds similar to a sound something hard would make as it scrubbed against something else at a high speed - maybe, kind of, similar to a grinding wheel working (I really don't want to be that specific, but it's all I can come close to sound wise).

 

Use Ford parts especially for the thermostat. Do a flush with the old parts on first. I have been lucky, 120K on a 13 5.0 still on original pump!

 

If it's making noise you better get it changed quick before it leaves you stranded. I did mine a few weeks ago at 85,000 miles. Easy to do.