1989 Ford Mustang 5.0 302 Timing Cover Gasket and Water Pump Repair

[Jetster007]

absolutley amazing haha been working on 88 gt all day to fix that gasket to fixx coolant leak in the exact same spot too bad i didnt find this video till after we had spent hours of wasted time to eventually get the cover off. i guess the seal was really tight but this is awesome and has reassured me that everything i have done according to owners manual has been exactly right too thumbs up for this :D

[APDTY]

@Jetster007 Thanks! Glad we were able to help! And glad you got your car back on the road. Not enough Fox Mustangs out there anymore :)

[50NotchBackStang]

WHAT GASKET SETS INCLUDE THE CORNER PIECES FOR THE OIL PAN? TRIED BUYIN A FELPRO SET AND IT WASNT THERE?? DOIN THIS SAME JOB ON 93 MUSTANG BECAUSE I BROKE A WATER PUMP BOLT...

[cubano1389]

My 1994 Mustang 5.0 always has fresh oil on the front of the oilpan were the cover to oilpan seal goes, and it also has oil on the swaybar wich is right in front of it, my engine leaks oil cuz i have to add about a quart per week , could it be the front main seal or the rubber seal thats goes between the pan and the timing cover ? I need to replace my balancer because it wobbles so i might aswell replace them, it looks like they replaced the waterpump and they did not do the timing cover job.

[APDTY]

@cubano1389 It's likely the front main oil seal behind the balancer that is causing your leak, that is the most common place for severe oil leaks on the 5.0 engine. 

[50316oscar]

i have a 2000 3.8 but the damper does not have bolts ,,is the harmonic balancer an damper one unit, or do i need a special tool..

[APDTY]

@50316oscar On your car, you need a special puller, the balancer and pulley are a single piece. You can usually borrow one from a local auto-parts store that has a "Loaner Tool" program.

[21mejia25]

mine is leaking from the same spot! I am about to re seal my whole engine, since it is leaking about a quart a month

[jkdj5]

Do you have to take the backing plate off of a new water pump and use sealant on the gasket between the backing plate and pump? Or can you just install the new pump with sealant on the gasket between the plate and timing cover? Thanks.

[APDTY]

@jkdj5 Adding sealant on that back cover is optional, you should be fine without it.

[xxSnIpEiNsAnItYxx]

how long is this process?

[APDTY]

@xxSnIpEiNsAnItYxx It took us about 3 hours to make the video, the actual time required will all depend on your level of automotive repair experience. To be safe, I would give yourself a full day to work on it. This is one of those jobs where you can run into unexpected problems that require more time.

[Havan21]

Awesome Video, Thank you ! Extremely helpful !

[CODxFUNxMAN]

what do i do if my seal is leaking? i think i didnt put enought RTV on there.

[APDTY]

@CODxFUNxMAN Unfortunately if it's leaking, the probable cause is a pitted timing cover and the cover itself may need replacing. You can try snugging the bolts up a little bit more and hope for the best, but I hate to say it, but you may need to replace the cover itself. Good Luck

[CODxFUNxMAN]

@APDTY what kind of sealant did you use? and i rememebr my cover had a spot that had the endge a bit filled or removed in a way. Thats where its leaking from actually.

[APDTY]

@CODxFUNxMAN yeah if it looked like a chunk missing in the cover (usually from corrosion) that is when you will need to replace the cover. The sealant I used was just a spray on gasket adhesive, you can pick it up at just about any auto parts store.

[CODxFUNxMAN]

Hey im going to replace my timing chain., well i already did, i have a gasket set, i wish it was from auto parts direct to you, but i had bought the set b4 i came upon this great video, i have a 91 3800 series 1 motor and in my gasket set i got the waterpump gasket the oil pump gasket and the cover gasket also came with RTV tube and a small red tube with a repair sleeve? im not sure if thats for the crank seal? Also i saw you sprayed some RTV on to the cover where coolant will be flowing., bad?

[happyland221]

i have a question i have a 94 ford thunderbird and the head gaskets keep blowing and its because of the gaskets are aluminium heads on a cast iron block is there a way to fix this

[APDTY]

@happyland221 your cylinder heads or engine block may be warped, repeated head gasket failures can be caused by a couple things, either A) The car is overheated repeatedly, or B) the head or engine block is warped due to overheating in the past

[tmaqbool21]

Thanx for replying, this video helps a lot.

[cocacolakid45]

the Video is a lot of help. all i wanted to do was replace my water pump but 3 bolts broke off in the timing chain cover. they were froze in the cover not the block, i had to bust it off and get a new one. 89 F-150 302/5.0. thanks for posting you video.

[1975dentonj]

@cocacolakid45 ok the same thing happened to my lincoln town car i have all the bolts loose but the noes that broke off and im hoping like hell theyre frozen in the cover as well and ya my cover wont come off it just keeps shattering

[tmaqbool21]

are you using the same sealer for all the parts, and what is the spray kind that you have?

[APDTY]

@tmaqbool21 I use the spray gasket sealer on all the gaskets, (except for the oil pan where I had to cut the old gasket off). The spray gasket is Permatex High Tack Spray-A-Gasket, really great stuff.

[ibanezgeorge]

good video, same procedure on a 91 Fox??

[APDTY]

@ibanezgeorge Identical

[micknm]

you solved my problem on taking the timing chain cover remember it is aluminum and it can break i have this motor in a f150 93 non stock version taken from galaxy or a mustang my first encounter was with 289 y block in a 67 cougar no i dont have that one anymore ! have 79-82 mustang but cant afford to rebuild it

[justinsn95]

Well, I'm afraid this video doesn't really inspire much confidence. I mean its a great vid, but at the beginning he said something like "its not as bad as it sounds" or something to that effect, and just look at the sheer number of steps. Better just to pay someone to do this job. Then again if you had a lift, it looks like you could just come at it from the bottom.

[98APCobra]

You can simply impact the balancer back on?

[APDTY]

@98APCobra Yes, you want to make sure it is lined up correctly with the woodruff key. Also when impacting it on, go very slowly and carefully, the last thing you want to do is to strip out the threads inside the crankshaft, if it's not going on smoothly, stop immediately.

[bigalwillis]

‘’note’’ with standard transmissions it is good to have the car in gear to remove the harmonic balancer bolt either with air tool or breaker bar. :)

[bigalwillis]

just got finished doing this to my stang. good vid. . .

[kanona76]

there doesn't seem to be a nut in back of my belt tensioner to remove. Is the 90 stangs the same? The back of the tensioner...all I can see is the end of a screw...or is it back there somewhere?

[APDTY]

@kanona76 Yours should be the same, you should have a nut directly behind the tensioner, They used this style on 1987-1993 5.0's, If it's not there,, then someone did something custom, LOL good luck with it :)

[kanona76]

What did you use to clean the old gasket of the timing cover?

[APDTY]

@kanona76 I used a high speed surface prep disc.

[ManicMechanic007]

Sometimes to make life easier when aligning the timing chain cover at re-assembly, I have purposely omitted the installation of the crank seal until the cover has been secured. This allows me lots of play around the crank to position the timing cover.

Regardless, the job you did looks good. Thanks for the video and sharing the knowledge.