Cactusmasher
Donation Time
Don't know if any other Darksiders have had problems locating water pump gaskets but here's my story. I was getting the Alpine ready to trailer it from Phoenix over to Kelly's in Yorba Linda for this weekend's Darksider gathering. I intended to surprise the guys by having it running, so I filled up the cooling system with anti-freeze. Have no idea what caused it to pee green all over my garage floor and couldn't see where it was coming from until I removed the alternator and overflow tank. Using a mirror I discovered two pencil lead sized streams coming from the underside of the water pump. Obviously a gasket failure of some sort. This engine has been together for several years and has never been started. Now I have the radiator out, fan and pulley off and the water pump removed.
I got on the phone and called every auto parts supplier in Phoenix and only two said they had the gasket ( this engine requires TWO gaskets, one for the water pump itself and one for the thermostat housing ). Of course they didn't have them in the store so had to order from the warehouse. Parts came in this morning.....guess what? Both places had the WRONG gasket. Their gaskets did not have the extension on the thermostat housing to cover the square hole ( the bypass built into the thermostat housing ). After much searching of computers and parts books we found the right gasket is for 2.6 and 2.8 Mercury Capri, 1972-73 only. Could not find a listing under Mustang II, Pinto, Ranger, or Bronco II for same gasket. Came up with a Felpro part number in a parts book but not listed in computers. Called Felpro and learned that this is a discontinued part. I then called every water pump rebuilder in Arizona....nobody has the gasket or would sell just one if they had it.
Started on the internet this afternoon trying to find said gasket. After several hours of emails and phone calls, finally found some at Northern Auto Parts in Iowa. They did not show the right gasket, but after a lengthy discussion and showing of pictures, the customer service rep recalled seeing same or similar gaskets in the warehouse. He went to find them and called me back with the good news that they had 3 of them under the old discontinued Felpro part number. I bought all three. They won't be here until middle of next week, so long story short, I won't be taking my Alpine over to Kelly Mathis' this weekend.
This is an indicator that these gaskets aren't easy to find and if you find some, it would be a good idea to buy them and stash them for later on. Ford dealers no longer carry them and chain stores apparently don't stock the one we need either. Sometime in the near future these gaskets will be like looking for chicken lips. Just thought I'd let you guys know.
I got on the phone and called every auto parts supplier in Phoenix and only two said they had the gasket ( this engine requires TWO gaskets, one for the water pump itself and one for the thermostat housing ). Of course they didn't have them in the store so had to order from the warehouse. Parts came in this morning.....guess what? Both places had the WRONG gasket. Their gaskets did not have the extension on the thermostat housing to cover the square hole ( the bypass built into the thermostat housing ). After much searching of computers and parts books we found the right gasket is for 2.6 and 2.8 Mercury Capri, 1972-73 only. Could not find a listing under Mustang II, Pinto, Ranger, or Bronco II for same gasket. Came up with a Felpro part number in a parts book but not listed in computers. Called Felpro and learned that this is a discontinued part. I then called every water pump rebuilder in Arizona....nobody has the gasket or would sell just one if they had it.
Started on the internet this afternoon trying to find said gasket. After several hours of emails and phone calls, finally found some at Northern Auto Parts in Iowa. They did not show the right gasket, but after a lengthy discussion and showing of pictures, the customer service rep recalled seeing same or similar gaskets in the warehouse. He went to find them and called me back with the good news that they had 3 of them under the old discontinued Felpro part number. I bought all three. They won't be here until middle of next week, so long story short, I won't be taking my Alpine over to Kelly Mathis' this weekend.
This is an indicator that these gaskets aren't easy to find and if you find some, it would be a good idea to buy them and stash them for later on. Ford dealers no longer carry them and chain stores apparently don't stock the one we need either. Sometime in the near future these gaskets will be like looking for chicken lips. Just thought I'd let you guys know.
