How do you replace the water pump on a Ford Windstar?

Answer 1

1995/98 (may also apply to 1999-2003?)

You will need metric wrenches and sockets from 10mm up to 20mm.

• Park van with front tires turned to the left. Jack right front of van, remove right tire. Place blocks under frame on right side in line with right wheel.
• Open hood, drain fluid into container by opening petcock on bottom right side (as you are facing front of van) of radiator. This is on the inside and is held in the radiator by a piece of plastic inside of the radiator, so don't try to pull it all the way out. Open radiator cap to allow air in.
• Unhook battery.
• Remove alternator and lay it to the right between engine and radiator.
• Drop serpentine belt out of the way. The way it is installed is shown on the underside of the hood. If not, draw it out before removing.
• Remove small rubber belt wheel that is forward and below alternator.
• Remove L shaped steel support that alternator bolts to.
• Unbolt electronic ignition that sits atop steel tube coming out of water pump. Will have to unscrew A/C tube support piece attached to it.
• You may have to remove plug wires, if so, be sure and write down their installation order first.
• Remove front engine mount nut on passenger side close to bumper.
• Remove back engine mount nut on passenger side behind right front wheel.
• Remove engine mount nut on drivers side just in front on left wheel drive shaft.
• Un-clip radiator hose from bottom of radiator.
• Un-clip radiator hoses from steel tube on top of water pump.
• Remove the two bolts holding steel tube in place.
• Remove steel tube, being careful with it as they are not made anymore and cost over $100 if one can be found.

  DO NOT Lift with weight on the OIL PAN

  See section below for WARNINGS

• Place wood support under oil pan between frame members. Remove wood from under right frame. Lower jack until engine mounts are about 3 inches off the frame. Make sure you do not lower too much and allow plastic parts in engine to be crushed. You now have enough room to remove the water pump. Place wood back under right frame until flush, just to be safe. The bottom tube is still manufactured if you need to replace it but will cost about $50.
• If you intend to replace the serpentine belt, take it with you as it seems all the aftermarket places list a belt a bit too small. The one Ford sells is the correct size.

That's it. Take your time and it will take a weekend to do.

Just a safety note: NEVER ever jack up any vehicle by the oil pan no matter what you place between the jack and the oil pan... The concentrated weight of the vehicle on the relatively thin metal of the oil pan would allow the head of the jack to easily penetrate right through the oil pan. Aside from the expensive damage this would do to the oil pan, it would also allow the vehicle to fall on you WHEN (not if) the jack punctures the oil pan.

Always place the jack under the center of the front or rear axle beams on front wheel drive vehicles, or under the front axle beam or the rear differential on a rear wheel drive vehicle.

Also, always make sure that any vehicle that you are working under is securely supported by jackstands that are placed under the recommended jacking points for your vehicle. Never rely on a jack as the only means of supporting the vehicle's weight.

See the Autozone online repair guide for both generations (1995-98 and 1999-2003) of Windstars.

One of the most helpful bits of information from the repair guides are the diagrams showing the various bolt sizes and locations. So easy to mess up when putting the short vs long ones back in.

NOTE: Autozone now requires free registration to access the repair guides. More than worth the extra effort for these photo/illustrated instructions.

I recently changed my water pump (but it was on a '95 Windstar...should be similar). After removing all bolts on the pump (remove flywheel first, then you can reach the other bolts), I had to unbolt the motor mounts (underneath van) and jack it up about 4-6 inches before the old pump would clear to be removed. Place a wooden block between jack and oil pan when jacking.

Get a manual from discountautorepairmanuals.com It is not an easy job.

A2: This is a difficult job. Only for skilled mechanics who don't mind bleeding a bit. Also the timing cover gasket should be replaced at the same time and that is for mechanics who don't mind bleeding a lot. Trust me I know. :) MGL

First thing you should know is that alot of the Windstar models require one to remove the engine mounting bolt and raise engine a couple inches so that the water pump can be removed from where it sits. Remove the belt. Unbolt the pump housing. I think there is like 6-9 bolts holding it in. Remove it. Clean the previously old gaskit material off. Install new pump. Not a simple job!!!

With the 3.0 Liter engine the following procedure works well.

Removal: 1. Drain Coolant. 2. Remove Coolant tank from Passenger fender well. 3. Loosen but do not remove the 4 14mm bolts on the Water Pump pulley prior to removing the serpentine belt. 4. Remove the serpentine belt using a long 15mm box end wrench on the tensioner to remove tension from the belt. 5. Remove the alternator 6. Remove the Tensioner pulley 7. Remove the Water Pump pulley (since you already loosened the bolts) 8. Remove all bolts 10mm, 8mm, and 13mm making a diagram with the locations of all bolts. Also remove all braces; there should be at least two. Keep in mind that not all 8mm bolts are visible from above. 9. Remove Water pump, if it sticks tap with a rubber mallet do not pry it loose. 10. Using a putty knife remove all traces of the old gasket until you see bare metal.

Installation: 1. Install new water pump with new gasket and torque all bolts to proper specs. 2. Reinstall Tensioner Pulley, Alternator, and Water Pump pulley. 3. Refer to diagram either on hood or over radiator as to belt installation. 4. Reinstall serpentine belt over all but alternator pulley. 5. Using long 15mm box end wrench, pull tensioner toward front of vehicle and slip loosened belt over alternator pulley. Release tension. 6. Reinstall Coolant Tank and refill with Coolant. 7. Start engine and, keeping a close eye on the temperature gage, idle until normal operating temperature is reached. Check for leaks if there are none you are done.

With the 3.8 Liter engine:

Take it to a shop and give them your left arm and left leg as well as first-born child and they may fix it for you. Or they may just laugh.

Water Pump Replacement 99 Windstar 3.9 L This is a ridiculously difficult job for for the average home mechanic. I'm an experienced mechanic and I was surprised at the difficulty of it. The two motor mounts on the passenger side must be removed (just remove the nuts from the bottom) and the engine jacked up and pulled forward slightly being very careful not to break any plastic. It might would be easier if another engine mount was removed as well. The upper pipe is difficult to remove and their is a good chance you will damage that pipe. It looks like that pipe/hose would be difficult to change as well. The lower pipe is usually very rusty and very close to leaking, I recommend replacing it. Removal of the alternator and alternator bracket is very easy and gives much more room to work with. I recommend that this job be given to a garage unless you have a lot of time and patience and a good helper. (make sure that the leak is the water pump and not the rear head gasket. You can see the rear head gasket fairly well from underneath the passenger side finder well once the tire is removed. if the gasket leaks here, it may appear to be the water pump leaking. found out the hard way.)

I replaced my water pump on a 2000 3.8 engine as others did. But it wasn't even my problem. My problem was I had too pin holes in the two tubes on top of the water pump. I had to remove the intake which wasn't too hard & the wiper cowl stuff. the pipe is under the intake, the other tube was on top of the water pump, ya have to remove a bolt behind the Power Steering to get the top tube out. It does wiggle out after a minute of rocking it back & forth the new water pump will come with 2 new O rings one for there & one for the lower radiator hose pipe. I patched it up with jb weld & let it set for a day to cure before I tried it out. ALSO when I took off the intake I scrapped off the oil crud on it & the van runs so much better like new. More power & even idle !!! So if your van spark knocks alittle & has runs a little ruff clean your intake with a razor blade, put a rag down so the crude doesn't go into the engine more.