Hi,

In the next few days I intend to replace the water pump on my sons 1999 1.6 lx focus.

Is it best to use red hermertite on both sides of the gasket, any other product, or fit dry ?.

Also, is it best to pre-soak the pump bolts with WD 40 to aid removal or are these bolts man enough to handle some pressure ?.

Thanks in advance, John.

for any bolts that have not been 'cracked' for some time its always best to use a freeing agent like wd40, as for the gasket if the faces are clean no sealent should be required but no harm will be done if you use some as long as you dont overdo it

for any bolts that have not been 'cracked' for some time its always best to use a freeing agent like wd40, as for the gasket if the faces are clean no sealent should be required but no harm will be done if you use some as long as you dont overdo it

Thanks for that, I should be doing the job on Wednesday, I`ll let you knopw how I get on, John

Coppaslip is good for when the bolts are going back in or vaseline caN never have too much vaseline when out by the car

Coppaslip is good for when the bolts are going back in or vaseline caN never have too much vaseline when out by the car

I agree, Im a firm believer of oiling/ greasing bolts to aid future removal. I just wish other people did the same. I`ve lost count of the times heads have sheared off bolts, the ones holding thermostat housings seem to be the worst culprits. John

Hi,

We changed the pump yesterday, all the bolts came out and went back in ok.( no sheared heads )

The job is quite tricky though due to lack of space to reach some of the bolts, also the cambelt cover has to come off, this in turn broke off a small plastic clip holding a cable. Needless to say this dropped down somewhere near the crank pulley never to be seen again. We did spend some time looking for it in case it stuck between the pulley and belt.

As usual, the heavens opened up every 30 minutes so what should have been an easy job ended up taking about 3 hours.

John