WTF: water pump o-ring discontinued?

[NoSlo]

I got a reman cardone store-branded water pump, which I was lucky enough to find locally, and it doesn't come with the pump body to block o-ring gasket - it is just the front of the pump. They also had a new pump with body that comes with all o-rings including crossover tube (which I just did from the other side) for twice the money. They were willing to show me the ring, but couldn't match it at that store with other o-rings.

Called dealer, OBSOLETE, no dealers have it in stock, part number E9DZ-8513-B. Forum threads from ~5-10 years ago were "you should be able to get it at about any dealer". THANKS FORD!

Felpro gasket set ES70425 - I can't find any parts places locally that don't have to special order it (which I could do online myself).

Does anybody have a line on a place to get this in Portland OR or a chain store that would the ring or felpro kit in stock? Any exact specs so it could be matched?

Can the front of the pump be replaced without disturbing this o-ring? It looks like no.

...
This car is starting to get annoying, for sure don't try to own one unless you are in a big city or have another vehicle. I just went through the same thing for a harmonic balancer - used to be in parts stores but now special order. I did a parts search for that thing, and luckily of the five wrecking yards in the country that listed it, one was in the state (took the bumbles three hours to get it off). And an A/C pulley I still need to replace, just a few dealers in the country have it.

 

[rubydist]

I have found some of the various engine gaskets at Advance Auto in stock sometimes and not others. I typically get them from Rock Auto or SHOsource because they are usually a lot less money than the local guys want.

You need to replace those o-rings, or you will get to take it apart later to fix the leak that will almost certainly result...

 

[zoomlater]

Have you tried contacting Mike or Kurt at Shosource, they are just north of you across the border.

 

[Rubix]

If discontinued items for these cars are a problem for you then you're in for a rough ownership, discontinuances are an obstacle you'll keep running into. I believe I got mine from RCM back when I last did a water pump - RCM and probably shosource (not positive) have entire gasket kits with every gasket and ring needed, rockauto might even have such a kit too but again not positive - I continue to be surprised with what rockauto ends up having in stock for our cars.

 

[Dirk37]

I couldn't find that damn thing either. I just went to O'reilly's and found the closest one I could which ended up being a bit too thick, then I put some rtv on it to hold it to the block and tightened the water pump down to squish it to size. 500 miles and no problems so far

 

[NoSlo]

Unfortunately my SHO is mobility-limited, so I have to borrow a car and plan the trip, since it's making an awful metal squeal like a really bad pulley, but from either the water pump or the power steering (as I swapped all the idler pulleys hoping for the easy fix). No pump housing in-hand where I could just take it to a place and say "give me an o-ring that fits in this groove", it's still in the car until I source the part.

The power steering pump turns normally by hand, while the water pump has a bit of a rubby hand-feel to it when turning. I'm actually praying for water pump. Thankfully the squeal is gone with the accessory serpentine belt removed. I think I figured out a way I could wrap a shorter belt, and bypass the water pump after removing it's pulley, just to diagnose which one is dying.

 

[K-Dawg]

Being around since 2003, you should be aware that many SHO specific parts are not typically stocked at local parts stores.

The FelPro set seems to be readily available and is your best bet at $5-10. I could never find that single o-ring by itself. Go ahead and replace the crossover tube o-rings while you're in there and you have the parts. (Now I see that you already replaced those o-rings)

BTW, I haven't bought parts from a Ford dealer in many years. Almost everything is available aftermarket (or used), and if I have to get something that's only available from Ford, I buy from SHONut.

 

[NoSlo]

I did the belt bypass like I drew above, with a 70" belt, the water pump pulley removed, and the lower idler pulley removed also, and I still got the rollsy-pollsy squeal. It's the power steering pump, and of course "Sorry, no stores in your area were found with this item available."

Cardone should be contacted and be told to include the o-ring in the reman front also, as it is required and not available unless you mail order another whole gasket set.

 

[SHOtimer]

I've ordered the water pump gasket set from my local autozone, usually get it the next day.

With SHO projects, i've learned to plan accordingly - gather parts ahead of time and figure that they will be hard to get. I'm usually thankful I can get them at all.

Doug

 

[zak]

I work with O-rings at work sometimes, if anyone has a new Ford one and can carefully caliper the diameter (small, actual "ligand" unstretched state), and give the width and inner diameter of the channel it fits into, I can look into finding a source for butryl or Viton (not sure which off the top of my head would be best with antifreeze). Maybe SHOsource has already done this though.

As a side note, ever since I switched to Zerex G05 frequent water pump changes have ended (bought my SHO new, first change at like 31 k right after the warranty ended, that Ford replacement pump has over 80 K on it).