Wheres the water going?
Asked by Fred Jul 09, 2015 at 08:00 AM about the 1995 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Its a 1995 bronco, I can fill the
radiator, drive 5 miles and when I stop
the radiator will be a half gallon low. It
was running hot so I took the
thermostat out. How can I determine
if the water pump is pumping?
5 Answers
Good information in this link for pressure testing: http://www.benplace.com/pressure_test.htm
When the water pump pumps, it come out the upper hose and gets drawn into the pump through the lower hose. I be you are filling the exhaust with water, though, take the plugs out, let it sit full and under the pressure test, then crank the engine to see if water sprays out any plug holes. Thats where a breached gasket or cracked cyl head may show up fast and easy. radiators can be flow checked and cleaned, or replaced as you find necessary. water pumps are checked at the weep hole for ANY coolant loss, as well as their gaskets and separator plate, finish the project with hoses and a new cap as you see fit. It is 20 yrs of age now. keep a thermstat in there, in use, motorcraft ones can like to stick open rather than shut. Gotta have that restriction to pick up and move the heat out to the radiator. Fan clutches lose a couple hundred RPM a year and can leak silicone fluid or feel loose when rocking the propeller. Give that a good look. they like standing upright while removed. if they are to be reused.
A decent runner reads 192 deg F when held at 2K RPM for two minutes then idling, that is thermstat opening temp. get it full, burped, and recheck after its cool to be sure you have it good for road testing. 50/50 coolant from the bottle storebought hasdistilled water in use for those aluminum engine parts. The "right stuff" is the sealer of choice being non acid cure. read the footnotes on the gasket directions if you replace them and get them faced correctly. positive stop rockers require no valve adjusting. The Ford garage knows those engines best.
I'd put the thermostat back in and have the cooling system pressure tested.
