[tombrown]

I have an 08 Taurus X with a leaking water pump, so that any coolant going in comes immediately out the weep hole by the alternator. The car has 280,000 miles and a small front bumper collision, so clearly not worth the new water pump. I was wondering if anyone ever tried just plugging the weep hole, relying on the second o ring seal at the water pump. Worst case seems to be the second o ring fails and the coolant mixes with the oil, ruining the engine. Best case is maybe I can go 25,000 miles before that happens (the first o ring lasted 280k!). Thoughts? I was thinking of removing the thermostat to prevent back pressure at cold starts.

 

[tombrown]

I live in the south, so "cold starts" would mean 50 degrees F.

 

[taucor0315]

The weep hole is there for a reason. It tells you when the W/P is going out. Did you not hear of the "Catastrophic water pump failure" in the Ford Cyclone V6 engines that are in FWD vehicles? It means it most often will destroy your engine, if the pump is bad.