How do you replace the water pump on a 1995 Ford Contour 2.0L?

Answer 1

Author: Don Craig Applicable to: All vehicles with V6 Added: 09/19/2002 Updated: 09/19/2002

You will need a 1/4" drive metric set with 7, 8, & 10mm sockets. 10mm must be deepwell to get to the nuts on the battery clamp. Some extensions and a driver handle are a nice plus. Waterpump belt part # is F5RZ-8620-A, aka JK3-274

Remove the engine/pump belt plastic cover and battery. Push the belt tensioner in till it hits the cam pulley and remove the drive belt. The tensioner will move inward by hand, I was surprised how easy it moved. Unclip the plastic clamp around the water hoses. Unclamp the hose attached to the steel tube that runs along the front of the engine, have a pan under the car ready to catch the coolant that will spill out when you pull the hose off. Leave the cap on the expansion tank, this will slow the loss of coolant.

If you have an ATX, remove the plug and cable from the top of the tranny and set it out of the way to keep it dry. This will also keep it safe from ratchet blows and give you more room. MTX owners have plenty of room. Minor differences from year to year are the placement of the PCV hoses, which may be in the way.

Unbolt the thermostat housing (2 bolts) and remove the housing and short section of hose that goes with it. You can study the thermostat if you desire. Make sure you put the O-ring back when you reassemble it. Fun part. You need to hold the big radiator and heater hose away and maneuver the 8mm socket on to the pump bolts. No need to unclamp them if you are handy. Note the position of the 3 long bolts that go through the pump front and into the engine block when removing the bolts. After all the bolts are removed the pump usually sets there because the gasket is still holding it. Take a punch (or screwdriver for us poor folks) and tap the front section a little to remove its grip. It will fly off, coolant and pieces of the impeller will go with it. I hunted down the pieces to make sure I had it all, some sections got stuck in the rear housing. If you can't find all of them, best you back flush the engine now.

All you need is the front section of the pump with the impeller and gasket. If you got the new pump that comes with the rear housing and hoses and want to replace all of it, this is the time for it. Some of the hoses are buried under the intake. Don't need replacing unless they are old and worn out.

Clean up the area and install the new front impeller section and new gasket.

If you have an ATX, clean and blow out the socket on the tranny, lube the gasket in the plug with silicone grease and install. Reverse the order and refill what you lost in the tank. It will take a couple of heat ups and cool downs to get all the coolant back in. Take a bottle of Dexcool with you, or drive around, let it cool, refill.

Inline 4 Cylinder

Remove the air intake assembly, disconnect the negative battery terminal, then take off the serpentine belt. Rotate the crankshaft pulley until the cylinders are on the compression stroke, top dead center (TDC). Remove the top timing belt cover and mark the camshaft sprocket thingies so that you can exactly re-align them on reassembly. Remove the middle timing belt cover.

Remove the crankshaft pulley so that you can remove the bottom timing belt cover.

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The Haynes manual says to pull the starter and use a large screwdriver to keep the gears from moving (on the automatic transmission), but doing so damaged the flywheel; a mechanic recommended using an impact driver to break it loose.

On the manual tranny, put it in 5th gear.

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Remove the Power Steering pump, leaving the lines connected. Drain the coolant into a container. Disconnect the water pump hose that was hidden by the power steering pump. Lock the camshaft sprocket thingies so that they don't move and remove the timing belt. Unbolt the four bolts in the water pump, remove the two timing pulleys from the water pump (requires a funky star head bit, runs about $5) and install them on the new one. Reassemble.