[oldred]

My 2001 Ranger has a leaking water pump and just a quick look under the hood to see what is involved in changing the thing reveals what appears to be a major undertaking. I bought it knowing the pump had to be changed but I have never turned a wrench on the 2.3 DOHC engine and it is a whole different animal compared to the older single cam 2.3. Looks as if the intake, cam covers and just generally most of the top of the motor has to be removed or am I missing something here? If this is what has to be done then the thing that really stinks is all this needs to be done just to do a simple Thermostat change too! I wouldn't have to think twice about changing the simple pump on the old 2.3 engine but being on crutches from a busted knee is going to make this difficult if it's as bad as it looks at first glance and much as it pains me to let someone else work on a vehicle I own I just might have to this time, am I looking at this thing wrong? Is it really all that involved? I will try to get a better look at it tomorrow morning, kind of hard to tell for sure until I get a few parts out of the way.

[timothale]

I have an 83 ranger project with a 302 auto and a stock ranger clone 96 Mazda. I check out the Ranger Station Website forums , More experts there. HR has mostly Chevy based info,. My son says he is ready to start on the 36 plymouth Coupe and wants to go Mopar power, It at one time had a SBC then about 10 years ago, He put a core Buick V6, And It has been sitting for 15 years while he finished college, married, kids, house, full time fireman, emt, CDL ,and small construction business, I haven't found Much info here on HR about building Mopars

[oldred]

I probably should not have even posted this because I think I was mostly venting after seeing what appears to be a totally ridiculous design but of course I did want input also. I called the local Ford Stealership and sure enough the estimate is around $600 to $700 to change a stinkin water pump but I was only trying to get an idea of the effort required and I would never take it to those crooks. Maybe with all the labor involved $600 may not be bad but this is the smae bunch of creeps that charged a family member over $700 to change a windshield wiper motor on a 96 Crown Vic. I looked at that thing and it probably took all of 45 minutes and the parts came to just a tad over $100! Still venting I guess, busted knees tend to make a fellow cranky, so I guess I will just quit growling and pull it inside and get started.

[1969NovaSS]

That pump is very easy to replace.
Remove the engine cover and air filter, loosen the 3 water pump pulley bolts, Remove serpentine belt, remove pulley and 3 more bolts and the water pump is off. The new one just slides in with an o-ring. It might take you an 1-1.5 hours your first time. Warranty time is 1.4 with diag so customer pay is probably 2.0. I dont see how they got 600 because I think the pump is 110 but I could be wrong.

[1969NovaSS]

Looking at rock auto the motorcraft pump is 58 so I cant see that 600. Assuming they charge 80 for the pump and 85/hr labor that's 6 hours for that pump. I am a ford mechanic and dealerships like that are why people don't want to come to us to fix there cars after the warranty expires and really piss me off.

[oldred]

Originally Posted by 1969NovaSS

That pump is very easy to replace.
Remove the engine cover and air filter, loosen the 3 water pump pulley bolts, Remove serpentine belt, remove pulley and 3 more bolts and the water pump is off. The new one just slides in with an o-ring. It might take you an 1-1.5 hours your first time. Warranty time is 1.4 with diag so customer pay is probably 2.0. I dont see how they got 600 because I think the pump is 110 but I could be wrong.

Are you talking about the DOHC 2.3 or the single cam 2.3? I do however think you're right because although I have not yet got anything removed to where I can get a better look at the thing I did look at the new pump and it does not appear to be at all what it seemed by just looking under the hood. I think what ticked me off so much was seeing what apparently must be done to change the thermostat.


BTW, thanks a bunch for the info!

[oldred]

Originally Posted by 1969NovaSS

That pump is very easy to replace.
I dont see how they got 600 because I think the pump is 110 but I could be wrong.

The same way the rascals got $700 for my Aunt's windshield wiper motor!

[matt167]

Hey, I paid $150 to have my locks lubricated.. When I had my '98 4x4 Ranger, the passanger side door lock never worked with the key, and driver side was sticky. got a remote fobb kit and asked if they ( dealer I got it from ) would install, say yep, just bring it by. Also had a leaky filler neck I wanted fixed... calls and says it's ready, go to pick it up and the owner/ salesmen says his mechanic couldn't do it, and as he is saying that, the mechanic walks in and says " those things mess up the electronics ". Ask about the filler neck, and he says " it needs patched ". He said the locks are lubricated and working good now. bill was $150 which I did pay. Got to the truck and found silicone dripping down the side of the truck.. Funny thing is, I'm friends with the owner/ salesmen.. The $150 I don't mind now as much, as the owner will get me good deals on parts, has a small junkyard, and if theres somthing special I'm looking for, he'll let me go into the basement to dig thru his stash..

[LATECH]

Is that thermostat electronically controlled? some were. That thing is pricey, or at least it was.

[oldred]

I guess we have all heard dealer rip-off stories but that Wiper motor really burns me every time I think about it, the motor is $78 at Autozone with a lifetime warranty and while I am aware the dealer motor will cost, and should being likely better quality, more money the parts on the bill was just a bit over $100. They had the labor broken down into several items but the bottom line is they charged about $600 labor to do what I am SURE I could do in about 45 minutes!

[oldred]

Originally Posted by latech

Is that thermostat electronically controlled? some were. That thing is pricey, or at least it was.

Not sure about the thermostat type yet but I finally got into that thing and it looks as if I made a big to-do about nothing, that was not even the thermostat housing I was looking at! What had me puzzled was that the pumped looked as if that whole cover assembly, and it is an assembly consisting of several Aluminum pieces, had to be removed but once the pulley comes off it is easy to remove the pump without removing the rest of those parts. I had just bought the truck and brought it home and that is the first 2.3 DOHC I had even seen much less worked on, I should have checked into it better before mentioning it here but much thanks to everyone for the replies!