Ford Water Pump Bypass Tube
 

I have a 1987 F250 4x4 with a 460ci 7.5L

Does anyone know if the bypass tube that is on the intake manifold that connects directly to the back of the water pump is pressed in or screwed in on the bottom of the intake manifold? I noticed a small coolant drip coming from beneath the hose that connects to the pipe on the intake side. When I took the hose off the pipe was completely rusted out and broke off the intake manifold. Will I need to take the intake manifold completely out and replace with a new one? Any suggestions on how to fix?

I was looking at that nipple on my 97 F250 last month as I replaced the water pump. Mine is getting thin also. I was irritated at the entire setup. If that little bypass hose springs a leak, I don't believe it can be changed without pulling the entire pump loose. P*** poor design.

I didn't mess with mine at that time, but I did put some thought into the future replacement. My impression was that it was probably a pressed in tube. Not necessarily machine pressed, but maybe tapped in with a hammer. If I had to replace it I would probably try to collapse the tube by tapping down on it with a small cold chisel. Orient the chisel parallel to the pipe, not across it. The idea is to fold the length of the pipe in on itself. Then I would apply some heat and try to work it out using vice grips. You may even want to heat it prior to the chisel work.

If I couldn't find an exact replacement, I would just get a piece of thin wall tubing as close to the diameter as possible and carefully grind it down until it fit, coat it with something like JB Weld and tap it in, and hope for the best.

When I removed the old water pump I had to heat some of the bolts to remove them. 2 of the long ones, that apparently thread into the aluminum adapter brought the threads out with them. Steel bolts threaded into aluminum. Another weak design. On re-istalling them I put JB Weld on the threads and just barely tightened them. All other bolts were coated with anti-seize compound. So far so good, in the leak department.

Please remember that I have NOT done the above procedure. This is just my speculation. When you get yours fixed, please drop a line back and let us know what you did and how it worked.

Thanks and good luck,
Marty