Ford 3.5L and 3.7L Water Pump Leak/ What To Look For

In this video I explain how a lot of Ford 3.5L V-6 and 3.7L V-6 water pumps leak. This water pump design can be found on a number of Ford products that come with the 3.5L V-6 and 3.7L V-6. The particular vehicle featured in the video is a 2007 Ford Edge equipped with a 3.5L. This water pump design can not only be found in the Ford Edge but also the Ford Taurus and and Explorer ( and I failed to mention the Ford Flex) that come equipped with the 3.5L engine or the 3.7L engine. This water pump designed was used for many years from roughly 2007-2018. (maybe longer) There may be slight variations in design from year to year but the concept of how the water pump leaks is the same between the years. The water pump is timing chain driven which means that it is located inside the engine behind the timing cover. A lot of vehicles out there that have an externally mounted water pump, unlike the Ford 3.5L and 3.7L mentioned above, are equipped with a weep hole that allows coolant to leak directly from the water pump. But, because this water pump on the 3.5L and 3.7L is located in the engine it can't leak like a normal water pump. The coolant has to be channeled outside the engine so that the coolant does not leak into the engine oil. In this video I explain the design of this weep hole and how coolant is channeled out the side of the engine block through a special passage. I also, show it to you.

Now, while it is typical for this water pump to leak from the weep hole, they can also leak into the engine due to catastrophic failure. The vehicle featured in the video has this problem and I explain how coolant got into the engine oil and mixed with it. (It's bad news). The bearing inside the water pump went out and caused play to develop on the shaft where the pulley mounts. The coolant leaked right through this.

Note: This is just two ways in which this water pump can leak. I suppose the gasket could also leak but I've not seen that yet. The two ways mentioned in the video are usually how this water pump fails. (in my experience) Also, there is an upper weep hole that is directed into the intake valley. These water pumps can also leak into the intake valley.

Also, This is not 3.5L V-6 Ecoboost used in a lot of late model Ford F-150s. (check your manual to see if the information in the video applies.) If you notice that your engine has a water pump that is externally mounted then this video does not apply to your vehicle. Just take a look and make sure. I think I'm pretty accurate with the list of vehicles and engine sizes mentioned above that have this type of water pump. However, you need to check me. Make sure. Verify that the vehicle you are working on is similar to the ones mentioned in the video. A repair manual is a must to be sure of this.

At about the 2:11 mark I mention the freeze plug is not available. Well, its not actually a freeze plug. It looks similar to one, but it's actually just a plug that goes into the weep hole to restrict the weep hole. It doesn't totally block it, it just restricts it. I don't know if that part is available. That being said you don't need one, unless you took it out.

Here is a link to a video describing the diagnostic process I went through to figure this out.
   • How I Diagnosed Faulty Water Pump 07 ...  

Here is a link to part 1 of a video showing the replacement of the water pump and timing chain:
   • Primary Timing Chain and Water Pump R...  


I thought it was interesting that Scotty Kilmer discussed this in a video he uploaded as I was putting this video together. Here is the linke to the video. Take a look. He talks about it for the first 1.5 minutes.
   • This Changes Everything  

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