I’m very fond of the Marshal, my 1989 Ford F-150, a generous gift from David, though it hasn’t really proven to be the trouble-free workhorse it really should be, and I think I have myself and the cruel realities of time and physics to blame for that. Sure, the inline-6 300 cubic inch/4.9-liter engine is the robust beast legends claim it is, but it’s all the crucial bits bolted to it I haven’t exactly had the best luck with.
On the way home from first getting the truck, it was the alternator that failed. I replaced that, then later it was the starter, which I also replaced, then some teeth on the flywheel broke and I ended up having to start it with a wrench for far too long (I need to return that wrench to David, btw) but then I finally replaced the flywheel and clutch and I thought all was finally great!
And then it overheated, suddenly and dramatically, as I returned from a day of taking the kid canoeing. Ugh. What did my truck to so horribly in a past life as a washing machine or industrial mixer to have to pay so dearly in this life? Anyway, I was dealing with this:
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This time, though, I thought I’d actually try and solve the problem instead of letting it just sit forlornly for months and months; I think this time I got to it in just, what, a month? Something like that. It’s progress!
My friend and colossal helper of misguided projects, Andy, once again offered his well-appointed shop and well-organized tools and considerable expertise to lend me a hand, so I babied the truck over to his shop and showed up with it geysering steam like what I imagine a red-hot meteorite landing in a Vegas casino fountain would be like. But, the truck made it, barely, and that’s what mattered.
It looked like the water pump was the culprit, as that seemed to be where the coolant was escaping, and there was also a loss of power steering, which seemed to be the result of drag from the bad water pump on the serpentine belt. You can see the offending water pump in the middle there, revealed by the removal of the fan and belt and hoses: 
I got a new water pump from Advance Auto, and it seemed to be a match for the old part. It fit in the old pump’s place just fine, once the hoses and bolts were laboriously worked off, but pretty soon we realized that something was, well, different.
The new part had some different dimensions for no good reason I could figure out. The casting was thinner around the bolt holes, which meant that the original bolts couldn’t hold it firmly to the block, because they were now too long, thanks to the thinner casting. We compensated for this with some nuts:
The bigger ass-pain was that the threaded bit that held the fan clutch in place had become, again for no good reason I can determine, smaller. By like, 5mm or so. Why? Why, why, why? What was gained here? Were both of these changes just to save a bit of metal? Was it just cruelty? What possible engineering advantage could have come about from this change?
In the end I had to buy a new fan clutch, too, because some engineer somewhere had to listen to some drip above them who decided that all the dimensions on this water pump needed to be changed just enough to make life harder and more expensive for some poor bastards who dared to try and replace the damn thing.
Finally, it did get replaced, and we also pulled the radiator and flushed it out, causing it to disgorge several clumps of an unpleasant brown muck that resembled, in size, shape, color, consistency and level of appetizing nothing so much as healthy human turds.
Some of the coolant looked like maybe there was oil in it, which is, of course, not good. I showed David the engine oil, though, and he seemed to think the engine was basically okay, so I’m just going to go with that until I get proven otherwise, likely on the side of the road in the rain somewhere.
The point is the truck runs again without creating more clouds than the break room of a vape store, and once again I’ve been reminded that wrenching on cars is always an ass-pain, somehow, somewhere.
Why did they change the sized of that damn water pump? Who stood to gain? Oh well.
My knowledge of swear words comes for helping my dad do repairs like this when I was a kid.
Ha! I remember telling my dad “That was a bad word,” while he was barking his knuckles on something. And it was rewarding to find the right tool for him. May he RIP.
New neighbor is very Christian and home schools his kids. They are learning LOTS of fun words from me.
If they complain, it’s just because they’ve never had the opportunity to mash a finger until the nail turns black while already angry. The pope himself would say things to make a sailor blush in that scenario.
My father had a temper and a tongue, but his father (1900 – 1978) was a mild, almost courtly old-fashioned gentleman.
Dad told me about working on something stubborn and awful with grandpa and smashing some body-part. Dad hissed “you f***ing c**k-s*cker” through his teeth and grandpa said “No, Johnny – that’s too feminine an epithet for a f***ing jackass like this.”
You know a bolt is stuck hard when even a well timed “Bastard!” isn’t enough to break it loose
Jason, I think I know what happened.
The water pump that you took off is actually the updated water pump that is the part number for the 1992/93-96 4.9’s and was likely put on there by a previous owner.
The replacement you bought is the actual original designed part for the 1987-1991 design. So, you are replacing the “wrong” part with the “correct” one
(even though both will work, I assume)
Brilliant. Sometimes we make bad assumptions that seem rock solid in the moment, like assuming a Ford truck from the 80’s was on it’s original water pump.
Well spotted.
I wish that I had access to an Andy. I could really use one.
Aren’t there parts discontinued for this generation F series?
They are 20 plus years old now…
The 4.9 I-6 is still in constant use, especially as a stationary power-plant for irrigation pumps and the like. It’s an eternal motor.
Alright. Any other plants used for irrigation pumps?
I meant other parts. Not exactly the engine.
Cummins 4BT and 6BT.
Ford flatheads including 6 cylinder bus engines. Likely many others.
The con rods in the inline Ford six are strong enough, that’s what is in my stroker.
X rayed and possibly polished, but otherwise off the rack.
There are modern crossover parts books still out there.
The rarer a part is, like rack and pinion bearings, the more likely they are in other vehicles. Very specialized bearings.
I heard some Vortec engines are still used in marine applications. Of course, they have their share of parts issues, but still..
Big block engines?
Marine use can be very harsh.
The Cummins 6 is rated for 15,000 hours marine use and has at least some different parts.
They claim the Navistar engine in a pickup is the same as the one in larger trucks.
Mechanic says only the block is the same
Could there be different variations of the water pump for that engine?
Years back I needed to do the water pump on my 88 GTA L98. Got the water pump ahead of time, but when I got the old one off, I realized they were different. You’d think a water pump for a SBC would be pretty standard, but apparently not. I brought the old one back and after looking at a few, the clerk found the one that matched.
There is a minor but essential part for a Dodge or jeep transmission that was made such a short time, new ones don’t seem to exist.
People drive from out of state for a used one.
Serpent belts ick. Wasn’t that a major plot point in the Bible, leading to wearing clothes, the fall of man and all that?
I had a F100 with the 300 six that I pulled out of the farm junk yard fixed up and drove go NYC. I learned early on to take worn parts to the counter and just ask for a replacement.
Counter guy: “what’s this from?”
Me: “I have no idea, but I found it on my F100 with a 300 six and a three speed.”
Eventually it would turn out that the part was off a 1958 Mercury station wagon. Sometimes the right pert would fit, sometimes not.
Why not just replace the bearing?
This is why I try to stay away from Advance Auto whenever possible.
About 15 years ago I had to do the water pump on my Toyota truck.
They gave me a total of 5 different water pumps, none of which fit correctly.
Such bullshit. Besides wasted hours at home, it was a real joy trying to convince the kids behind the counter that their parts computers were wrong, and a pump for a Tacoma, or T-100 would not fit on a 22RE engine. Ever…
My sweet wife finally had one sent over from the NAPA store 20 miles away.
Thankfully it fit great, first try.
But to be honest I have been through the same sort of crap with most of the other auto parts stores on other repairs.
Hope it all works out Torch.
I doubt it generalizes across the chain, but out my way O’Reilly Auto has old retired mechanics working the desk. I don’t know if they need the money or are simply bored, but they are awesome. They start with the computer but are glad to not trust it when things get squirrely. They’re also glad to take an old part and go wandering the shelves to find something that seems physically compatible.
I learned that happens here as well. Thank God for the guys with actual wrenching experience. It counts for a lot vs some kid who has never touched a wrench in his life.
Ironically my wife’s family once owned a good auto parts store.
She actually began working there at 7-8 years old.
Too bad that her Dad retired and closed the store a few years before this all went down.
I learned she was a “keeper” before we were married when she could look at a bolt and determine it was a metric size, and she would hand me the correct sized wrench or socket before I even asked for it.
An amazing woman she was for sure.
Past tense. Sounds like she is gone. One way or another. Sorry.
Was? Oh no!
That is the only kind of store to go to.
They aren’t the same. As I posted before, the store near me has a commercial counter and I talk to that guy.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts I dealt with in Beaumont, TX was the same way. I wasn’t dealing with car issues, but a self-serve car wash my wife and I foolishly bought. There was a tool I needed that I didn’t have and some 60+ year-old guy (I’m 60+ as well) knew exactly what I was talking about and guided me to that part of the store.
Back in Tacoma, WA, all I have had to buy for my Honda is some wiper blades and a battery, but O’Reilly is where I go out of loyalty. The battery I bought at the local Walmart in TX didn’t make it anywhere near it’s guarantee, but I just didn’t want to deal with the minimum wage idiots there.
This. When I need to go to a parts store I usually look for the oldest guy behind the counter before asking for a part. It makes a big difference.
As for batteries I have been buying only the Optima brand for a couple decades now. The first one I bought lasted over 12 years.
That sold me on their brand for life.
That’s good to know. An Optima battery might outlive me, but will make it easier for my son to sell the car. 🙂
The original optima was tough.
That changed at some point.
I don’t know if the quality came back.
I lean toward Odyssey currently.
Truck came with two, over ten years old.
One failed, the other keeps going.
Odyssey has a reputation for holding up in semis and race cars, where vibration is an issue.
The early optima I had, had been raced, mounted over an all metal links suspension.
Had a small leak but worked after many years.
Had reached the point it wouldn’t hold a charge if it sat too long, but still had the amps.
Advice from optima engineering was if you mount a spare battery, use deep discharge for both.
Best practice is buying from the same exact lot.
I stopped going to O’Reilly’s in Washington state after the Attorney General sued them:
AI Summary:
“O’Reilly Auto Parts in Washington faced a lawsuit from the state’s Attorney General for allegedly discriminating against pregnant employees by denying accommodations like leave, breaks, and modified duties. The lawsuit, filed in August 2023, alleged that O’Reilly’s practices led to harm, including miscarriages and premature births, for some employees.”
Ooof! I was not aware of that. Where do you shop now?
Thankfully I have an embarrassment of choice where I am (3 national chains and 2 independents within 5 minutes), but I go to Advanced Auto parts as it is the closest and was my store of choice when I lived in Florida. Still had my loyalty number after 14 years of not shopping there!
I’ve always had good luck with O’Reilly, NAPA too, I needed a small “S” shapes hose for the WRX, and the guy from NAPA in St. Paul said, “we don’t have that hose, but I bet we have something...” sure enough he found some random hose where a part of it would fit the car. Any other place would just send you to Subaru.
At the Advanced down the street I go to the commercial counter. That guy was a mechanic and can read and understand
I won’t go to parts stores anymore, except out of absolute necessity. It’s not even that the parts people are typically awful (Napa is usually much better for this, as they tend to be locally owned), but that the parts them selves are terrible, for for a huge mark up. I worked for a locally owned Napa for 5 years, and watched with horror as the parts quality rapidly degraded. When I shop online, I can at least choose the form of my destructor.
I get this. And try to stay away from all of them when possible.
Sometimes I am willing to pay the Toyota tax and just buy from the dealer nearby.
I have been surprised several times by the low cost of some of their parts also.
I try and go OEM whenever possible, which unfortunately, for my 4×4 is pretty damn hard (it’s a Suzuki). Dealership mark ups are pretty hard to stomach, so I tend to shop through GM/Ford Parts giant when I’m looking for OEM stuff.
I get that. My wife ran a repair shop for over 30 years.
She got to know all the parts people within about a 50 mile radius.
They would actually recognize her voice on the phone before she asked for parts availability.
Even though she is gone now, I still get the “Amy” discount when I call for stuff. When I give them my name to hold or order a part I usually get asked if I am her spouse. She has been gone going on 4 years now, but the old timers still remember. It always makes my day.
Yep, the store I worked in was managed by a lady who had been there for more than 30 years, it used to be her dads. I love small locally owned shops like that, but I just can’t stomach a 200% mark up on Dorman or Standard automotive parts. Napa really needs to focus on what made them popular to begin with: better parts with better customer service.
I am so sorry for your loss. A little bit higher in this thread, I feared she was gone. I hope these happy memories make the loss a little bit easier.
Thank you. We were together almost 40 years. I still feel like the luckiest guy in the world for the life we had.
TBH the great memories are what have gotten me through the last 4 years…
My wife was a really pretty woman, even as she aged she seemed to get better looking. I can recall the times we would be together in public, she would turn a lot of heads wherever we were.
I’d try and post a photo of her, but that would just lead to a ton of complimentary comments.
Even at the end of her life we were blessed. She died of lung cancer, but was only diagnosed with it about a week before she passed. Somehow she lived with it without a single complaint, just felt tired all the time for her last year.
So even then we were both blessed.
And it’s hard for me not to brag about how blessed she made my life.
Appreciate your comment.
I am so sorry.
I had a very pretty wife as well. But she has mental issues and tried to commit suicide three times while I was with her. She was usually fun to be with, knew how to drive a stick and we had some great times and trips together.
But finding her almost dead three times, calling paramedics and dealing with the hospital stays afterwards was just too much. And she refused to do the counseling that might have helped her and kept me in the picture.
A friend sent me a picture of her and a new puppy the other day. She’s still very pretty. The shlub she married after me doesn’t deserve her or her money and has turned the almost Architectural Digest worthy home we had into a warehouse of crap he tries to resell on EBay.
I guess I’m better off without her, but I still miss her.
But, there’s hope that I will find someone else to spend the rest of my life with. I hope you do too, if that’s your wish.
I am so sorry to hear this. But also understand how it can happen. I have known a lot of folks with a similar type story. And it also again reminds me of how blessed I was too. I know my wife saved my life at least a couple of times due to medical issues that included a couple trips to the ER in the middle of the night. I wish everyday that I could have saved her, or helped her more, but very few of us get through life without some regrets.
Really wish you all the best in the future.
I don’t like being alone, but also don’t expect to find anyone else. The good memories we shared are what keeps me going now at my old age.
Wish you good luck, thanks.
Yeah. Thank you. Sorry to make this site temporarily a confessional or psych unit. Thank you for your thoughts.
A week is a really short time to prepare for what you and she went through.
I will try to keep my comments more car oriented going forward.
Best to you as well.
Thanks, Yes I realize it’s way off topic too.
My bad.
Not your bad. And sorry for your loss.
I think most of us are here for the human nonsense.
We can talk pure mechanical theory anywhere else.
Why else do we follow obscure details on cars only competitive with oxcarts?
I know far more about jeeps than I ever want to know.
It’s nice some people are passionate about them though.
I like in a heavily jeep centric town, and I can’t imagine what most people are doing with them.
🙁
Despite Toyota denying it, there is a network of dealers wholesaling to mechanics.
None local, but close enough.
Still more expensive than the aftermarket.
>This is why I try to stay away from Advance Auto whenever possible.
Same, I used to just avoid Advance and Autozone electrical parts, but really it’s best to avoid all of them if possible. I buy OEM or NAPA and have had good luck with both. NAPA seems to be slipping a bit over the years though.
I wouldn’t doubt a bit that the Advance Auto water pump was A) The wrong part B) The right part, but they wanted to save money on expensive metal C) The right part, but they tried to combine several designs into one to save money.
“Sure, the inline-6 300 cubic inch/4.9-liter engine is the robust beast legends claim it is, but it’s all the crucial bits bolted to it I haven’t exactly had the best luck with.”
You’ve fallen for the classic old American Truck Catch 22! My 1995 Chevrolet runs absolutely perfect, and has an incredibly healthy 454, at 140,000 miles. Rides well too. But the weirdest little odds and ends are constantly going bad (including water pump). Not enough for me to consider the truck unreliable, or expensive enough for me to even get mad, but often enough to where I usually have a box of parts in my garage ready to go when I get a chance to install them.
Well said, There is that point where the all the little things build up to that moment where one loses confidence in the vehicle and it is time to move on.
Yeah, and I think that there is the reason why many American cars ended up at the scrapper. I don’t have that point for easily repairable and inexpensive items, but I can understand why many do, especially if they don’t do their own work. I do tend to keep up on stuff that could possibly strand me, such as the aforementioned water pump, which absolutely shat itself in a diner parking lot.
But heres a little preview of stuff I still need to do: Coolant temp fan sensor leaks enough to where I can smell it when I shut the truck off, front right caliper drags enough I can hear it, power steering cooler leaks enough to coat the oil pan, oil cooler lines leak slightly, I discovered a snapped exhaust stud when fixing an exhaust leak, AC has a leak somewhere, TBI injectors could probably benefit from a rebuild, and probably many more I can’t think of off the top of my head. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to hop in the truck and drive across country. That is, if I could afford to keep the 454 full of go juice.
I would not necessarily say scrapped just sold as overpriced used cars.
I have an SUV that I take offroad. In the back are inner and outer tie rods, a hub bearing, and, frustratingly, cam and crank position sensors. Still it beats getting a tow off of a mountain or blocking up a trail or fire road.
My ’86 F-150 had the upgraded “I own a Ford” starter kit. A bottle of sprite filled with gas, a straw, and a rag, just behind the driver’s headlight. Behind the right was an insulated piece of copper wire (I was too fancy for a screwdriver).
In the back were two 5-gallon gas tanks, strapped in just behind me (not a great idea, in retrospect).
I can say that the oil pressure gauge worked. It was a binary system, though; either you had pressure or you did not. That was the extent of the working gauges.
Heh, my offroad SUV is only American in name (Chevy Tracker). It’s just so dependable, that even with 250,000 miles I just carry a spare belt and hand tools.
Oh, I don’t plan to break a tie-rod, but I know it happens. The cam and crank sensor are the only things stand out over the long run of the vehicle.
Japanese in name but made in Canton, Mississippi with engines made in Tennessee.
“What did my truck to so horribly in a past life as a washing machine or industrial mixer to have to pay so dearly in this life?”
Maybe it was originally The Mangler?
Some of you might know about Stephen King’s 1972 short story titled “The Mangler” about an industrial laundry press that developed a taste for blood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mangler
And they managed to make not one, not two, but *three* movies based on that despite it being only a short story (the first one was directed by Tobe Hooper and starred Robert Englund, don’t know why it’s not better known, ha.)
ETA: I work part time doing repairs for a small dry cleaning shop; as I was finishing typing this comment I got a text about one of the presses not working properly. Spooky. Off to work I go. Hopefully it’s not something ominous…
A few of my coworkers used to work for a textile manufacturer the next town over, they had a machine they called the “mangler” and said it scared the hell out of people.
Some commenters asked whether you got the wrong part or were given the wrong part which reminded me of something I’ve read about/been told about re: Ford parts in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Sometimes people would ask at the auto parts store for something for their late model truck and get the wrong part because they would say it was for a 1990 Ford F150 but the parts counter clerk would hear it as a 1994 F150 and vice versa, that is, they would say it was for a 1994 F150 but the clerk would hear it as a 1990 Ford F150. Since there was a switch over from the eighth generation (the Marshal) to the ninth generation in ’91-’92 so many things were indeed different for a ’90 F150 and a ’94 F150…
I had a ’75 F100 Ranger with the 300 inline six. This was before I really knew what the hell I was doing, and the coolant mixture in it was too high in water content when I drove it in a North Dakota winter. One evening, I was driving home with my wife-to-be, and the engine overheated because the coolant had frozen up in the cooling system in the -30°F weather. We had the truck towed home where I let it thaw and put in the correct coolant volume in it. Started as if nothing happened at all. I still replaced the head gasket prophylactically in the spring, but yeah, it was fine.
This is surely a sign of a limited vocabulary, but prophylactically put some very weird images into my mind.
Ahh, springtime, when young men’s thoughts turn to prophylactics.
I’ve replaced many water pumps over the years, it’s a common failure point, many had crappy impellers, or bearings. It is critical to thoroughly clean the mating surface on the block to get a good seal. The differences between old and new in this case are significant enough to send me right back to the parts counter with both in hand.
Jason, don’t you know that the compensating nuts go on the trailer hitch, not the water pump?
Merch idea!
The ones on the trailer hitch are the overcompensating nuts.
I don’t know about you, but my nuts are attached to my water pump.
Working on modern cars is like working on plumbing – it ALWAYS takes three trips to the store and five times the amount of time I expect.
And by “modern,” I mean anything built since 1972. Get off my lawn.
Glad to see the truck back on the road. Keep at it. Eventually you’ll replace all the fragile giblets and it’ll be good for another geological age.
Thats why I never start a plumbing or electrical project unless the stores are open for at least 4 more hours
If it doesn’t take three trips you’re not doing it correctly.
I have a 100 year old house 3 trips is a good project, usually it’s five plus an in depth internet search
63 yo mid-century modern house here…often it’s three trips to find out they don’t have it ????
New (5 yo) house. Just painted the garage interior and put up PVC wallboard. Planned for three days, took two weeks+ and a dozen trips to the store(s).
That’s valuable messing-around-with-cars time wasted, to misquote Ratty. But it is nice to work in now.
PVC wall board?
It comes in 4×8 sheets from the home improvement store. I finished the bottom 4’ of the walls all around so I can hose out the garage. If you get the right stuff, it’s also resistant to dings and automotive chemicals in a way that plasterboard isn’t.
New material to me.
Is it heavy?
I’m looking for liner material for a trailer.
Sounds like it would be a vapor barrier too.
Not heavy, but very floppy. You need to glue it to a surface. Easy to cut and work with.
Thanks.
I’ll check it out.
I’ve used mono epoxy ester for many surfaces.
It’s a total vapor barrier once cured, and can be cleaned with acetone.
It’s a single part available here in clear or white. It can chalk in sunlight.
looks to me as if either you asked for the wrong pump or you were given the wrong pump
Bad parts are the big challenge to maintaining anything.
Nippon Denso cautions they are having a hard time with counterfeit parts.
I see rock auto claims to offer OEM Denso starters for my application at half what I just paid. How?
The difference is I bought through the direct Denso supply chain.
Judging by the price of denso spare parts I bought, I think I paid wholesale. It’s a new made in Japan Denso part.
What are they selling for close to $100?
I couldn’t get a quality water pump for a big Ford engine once and found one at advance for temporary use.
Lifetime warranty very cheap..
It was rough cast, covered in black grease, but the machine surfaces were precise and the bearings good. I learned to tell the finish of cheap parts a long time ago and the surfaces that mattered looked good.
When I fitted it, everything was a precise fit.
It came in a plain cardboard box and was marked as Russian.
It’s still on that engine.
I’d buy more from that supplier if I could get them.
I spend far more time researching quality parts than I do installing them, stock or modified.
On serpentine belts, they over tension water pumps and make them fail.
Give me a separate V belt.
It’s unfortunate that spending more on a known brand, or more still for OEM branded, doesn’t guarantee that’s what you’ll get. Counterfeiting is a scourge.
Direct supply chain sounds like money well spent. If you pay for Denso, or Bosch or whatever and get a knockoff you might as well have bought the CARFZZT part off Temu…
After finding out how difficult it is to remove the starter, and noticing how hard it is to push start an 8000 pound truck, I really wanted a reliable part in there.
Key to removing the lower bolts is a 10mm torque adapter.
It was actually parts geek claiming exact OEM parts.
I looked at rock also but don’t recall how specific they were.
Torch- was it a Carquest Premium water pump or a Driveworks? Which store was it? Is there any way to PM me relevant information?
carquest premium
part number T5066?
Those compensating nuts are not the truck nuts I was expecting.
They just need a little nut mustard.
Looking at RockAuto, the Gates pump for the 1988 F-150 for the 300ci I-6 has the same hose attachment features as the pump you removed, but this style pump isn’t an option for the 1989 models, though the bolt holes still seem to have thinner metal and the clutch mount is still a smaller diameter: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=948787&cc=1121779&pt=2208&jsn=871
I had to go back to 1985 to start seeing some features like yours, I wonder if your whole assembly was replaced with a u-pull part at some point? But then again, the squiggly tube didn’t appear until 1986. Mystery indeed
That’s what I was thinking: that the engine was swapped for a similar motor of a different year, or from a van or HD model or something.
So I’m confused. (What’s new?)
Based on what I saw in the video it seems you have a burst cooling hose – Which makes sense given the truck’s age.
How did you determine you actually needed a new water pump?
I actually saw it leaking coolant, and the power steering issues from drag on the belt
I have The Marshal’s big brother, a 92 F-250 with the 300-6. It overheated 3 times because it kept shredding serpentine belts. Turns out the balancer rubber cut loose and the outer pulley kept shifting in and out periodically until it carved a groove in the timing cover and started leaking oil. Then I finally figured out what was going on. The whole time (this went on for a year!) it kept spinning the accessories fine.
Anywho, long story long, that engine can take the overheating. I always managed to limp it home, though 1 time I kept having to pull over at lakes and streams and douse the engine with water to cool it down.
Aftermarket parts can suck. The water pump I replaced fit fine and I was able to reuse the fan clutch, but the aftermarket clutch master cylinder I installed is tilted at a 30 degree angle, reservoir and all. I double checked it was the right part and it has worked ok, but really?
I have vauge memories of Ford doing this kind of annoying minor changes between model years for no apparent reason all during the 80s and 90s. Mostly on ancillary parts such as your fan clutch. The basic engines and like 95% of the parts would remain the same for decades but some small shit would change all the time for no apprant reason I ever saw. You had to know the exact year and in some cases even 1/2 year to get the right part.
Something like this is probably the culprit. That and every parts store’s database indicates that they are all the same.
Don’t we have a parts counter database guru here? Love it if he’d comment on this.
They seemed to have had a heavy duty option for the water pump.
Ford did that with the 2009 Escape. Halfway through the model year they switched it from a cartridge oil filter to a spin on.
I encounter that with engine components on my ’98 Ranger 4.0 OHV all the time. One example, the gasket between the upper and lower intake manifolds has different thicknesses, but is otherwise identical, depending on model year. Never figured out which year I ended up with though. Eventually got the correct thickness gasket.
“It is highly recommended that the fan clutch be replaced with the water pump
Used mostly on models equipped with a fan clutch” Directly from Advance’s website
yes but what about trying to be a cheap bastard?
And that doesn’t explicitly say you HAVE to, just that is recommended.
Just means an extra trip .. sometimes
More expensive in the long run, but yeah I get that.
It sounds like maybe the parts counter guy have you the wrong part? The dimension differences just sounds like the typical Chinese recreation parts experience but the actual clutch being a different size makes me think there was some dumbass rolling model change that nobody at Ford told anyone about except for service tech and/or some extremely specific combination of original options led to a different part being specced at the factory. I dealt with the latter a lot with my Corvette.
So the radiator shit itself? Would one say it was… lavishly?