extreme water pump failure (1 Viewer)

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hillbilly desert rat
So I hear a noise and feel my back tire run over something and all of a sudden my dash lights up... I pull over and see green liquid and hear hissing..... My radiator was just fixed 2 weeks ago and I see this

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tow truck was 250 for about 35 miles.....

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it is scared up in a few more places and was leaking under the cap also..... Not sure if it is repairable.

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when you pull on what is left of the fan the water pump shaft moves around and inch out and is way out of round.....

Wonder if C Dan carries fan shrouds for a 1991 80 ? ?? ? ?


parts needed
rad
clutch fan
water pump
battery box
fan shroud

THIS SUCKS
 
Dude. That truly sucks. I'm sorry that happened.
 
How old was the pump? Any idea if it was anything other than it wearing out? (maybe something got thrown up into the belts??)
 
have had that happen before, if the pump was old they seize up and stop everything from moving and well, you know the rest. I see it all the time on road trips, cars on the side of the road with a big dump of coolant is usually a water pump fail.
 
the belts were fine..... pump was 7/9 years old. no leaks no warning signs...... it looks like a nightmare to replace..... getting the rad out was a bitch to say the least.


a call to C Dan is my first order of business today.
 
If the belts got adjusted with WAY too much tension it will destroy bearings in short order. You'll never know now...
 
I'll have a spare 3f fan but not available until end of next week. Sorry that probably doesn't help much.
 
I feel your pain when my radiator exploded a year ago. Lots of parts to find in a short time.

Good Luck!
 
Not common, but have seen the shaft on several *F motor water pumps break at the bearing. The 1FZ is a different design, doesn't share this issue. I would also change the small hoses in the area, they are inconvenient (at best) to change in the field, make the PHH on the 1FZ seem like a walk in the park.
 
Had this happen before on my 70 Trans Am

I had replaced the original flex fan with a quieter fan clutch and a few months later, the clutch seized solid.

I put off replacing it for a bit and made the big mistake of going to the track at Englishtown :doh:

On my first pass at the top of third gear, the fan yanked the pump shaft right out of the water pump and tore up the radiator, leaving me stranded and washing down the track for all the folks behind me :bang: (took an hour to clean up)
 
I just did my 3FE's w/p last weekend. boy was it fun! mine was just leaking, no catastrophic failure like that.
 
My buddy had a 66 mustang where the fan clutch locked up and it walked the water pump shaft out of the pump. The impeller started screeching on the inside of the water pump housing so he stopped. We ran it the final 250 miles home without a fan and the water pump shaft hammered back into rough alignment.

Did you have a roaring fan noise under the hood before this happened? That's usually what you hear when the fan clutch locks up.
 
3FE wp is a pain, but most all the stuff that needs to be removed has to come out to be replaced anyway. Go ahead and plan the thermostat while your in that far. Patience is a virtue on this one, several ackward hose clamps to get at. I should probably add that to th PM list on my latest addition. Good luck
 
Good news is that the damn fan shroud is out of the way!
 
My radiator was just fixed 2 weeks ago and I see this
Maybe somebody forgot to put all the fan clutch bolts back in or forgot to tighten them?


*ETA* I just bought a new Aisin water pump off Amazon for $36 delivered (open box item)!!!!!
 
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