The cooling system has leaked in the Mustang for as long as I can remember. The main locations are from the thermostat housing and from one or two water pump bolts. I've resealed the thermostat housing many times with Fel-Pro gaskets but it never seems to make much of a difference. I'm hopeful I can fix it this time as the leaks and discoloration of the engine paint is a pain.
As I started looking things over to decide if this was the next project I wanted to tackle, I noticed the water pump is actually leaking from the weep hole in the bottom indicating a bad internal seal. That made the decision that I should go ahead and do this job next. I've thought I should perform some type of cooling system upgrade to keep things cool. I think with my current state, that would be an aluminum high volume pump. I really can't fit a bigger radiator or fan so there is little else left to do.
This morning, I drained the coolant from the system and then removed the overflow tank, shroud/fan, radiator hoses, alternator, A/C brackets, thermostat, pullies, water pump, and harmonic balancer. I then sat them all aside and will get them cleaned up for reinstall later.
This time, the thermostat housing shown below was leaking from the upper right side of it below nearest the top bolt. This is a newer Scott Drake housing so I don't think it is warped but I'll check. I found a Mr. Gasket 737G gasket which has a unique rubber seal so I might end up using it. I plan to just keep using the Mildon thermostat as it is rated to open at 180 degrees.
The water pump was obviously leaking from the weep hole which I think is a newer development. I think it was also leaking from the bolt immediately above the lower radiator hose and from the lowest bolt on the right side of the picture below. I'm quite confident I used sealant on these bolts before but I'm going to double and triple check everything this time.
The damage to the engine paint can be clearly be seen on the front of the timing cover below. While it is not pictured here, where water sat inside the water pump, there is a rust line along the back of the water pump block off plate. I don't think water should be back there so it must have leaked into the backing plate area without me noticing.
This is where I've left things for now. The valve covers are off as simultaneously, I'm trying to figure out why the valve cover gaskets are leaking. The next step will be to drain the oil and then remove the timing cover. I then need to clean up all the parts, order a new water pump, and get the various parts painted and ready to be reinstalled. Ideally, I would finish this project up next weekend but everything takes much longer than I initially expect.
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