[Fontech]

A little help, please.


Some of you know that I had a Paxton Novi 2200 Supercharger with an intercooler installed about 3 months ago. I also had a Meziere electric water pump installed at the same time. All was perfect for the trip to Steamboat Springs, CO in June 2008. After my 2300 mile road trip with Charlie and bout 100 miles later, the dummy pulley on the Meziere water pump broke, in turn broke my belt.

After the Meziere water pump went back to the vender and after they inspected it, they realized that the bearing on the dummy pulley had a 2005 version, not a 2008 updated version bearing. Meziere sent Impulse Engineering a replacement. Here is the kicker. I had to pay for the new water pump to be reinstalled due to a bad part from Meziere. Meziere stated that they only warranty the part, not the labor. So, I paid for the labor to install this new pump.

I received my Mustang on Saturday August 16, 2008 at 12:00am. Went home and detailed my stang for a run to Lake Arrowhead 9 hours later. The stang seemed to be running perfect. An OCMC member wanted to ride with me, so he climbs aboard. On the trip up the mountains he asked me if my stang ever overheated, at which time I looked at the temp gauge. Believe it or not, the stang was HOT. I turned on the heater, the temp went back to normal and I drove the rest of the way without the A/C.

This overheating was no an issue on the trip to Steamboat Springs, CO and was never an issue before the Paxton. This issue started went the second Meziere water pump was added.

So, on the way back I had the A/C on and there were no issues with the stang overheating. After I arrived home, and restarting the stang I had coolant all over the place. I called Impulse Engineering and Eric Cheney said he would come to my home on Sunday August 17, 2008. After he arrived and with the hood up, the Meziere electric water pump did not work. Eric then put power directly to the water pump and it started to circulate the coolant.

After bring my car in on Tuesday, he was told by Meziere to have a relay before the electric water pump and with a thicker gauge wire. This was done and Alan Reece again helped me pick up my Mustang on Friday August 22, 2008 at 10:00pm.

Here is the letter I emailed to Impulse Engineering about the “Test Drive” to Las Vegas, NV.

This letter will state the outcome of the test drive from Tustin, CA to Las Vegas, NV in a 2005 Ford Mustang GT with a 2200 Novi Paxton and a Meziere electric water pump. A relay for the Meziere was added for the purpose of isolating the gauge of the wire for power to the water pump. This test was done on Saturday August 23, 2008 at 5:00am from Diamond Bar, arriving in Las Vegas at 9:00am and leaving Las Vegas on Sunday August 24, 2008 at 9:30am, arriving in Diamond Bar at 4:30pm. The test drive was due to the Mustang overheating the weekend before. The Meziere water pump not working after arriving home from that trip and coolant leaking from the coolant reservoir.

Per Impulse Engineering, they wanted the driver to verify that the Meziere was working before every startup. This would be done by having the hood up; turning the ignition on, verify the Meziere had power and then starting the vehicle. This procedure will be done at every point of the test drive.

Upon leaving Tustin and every stop to Las Vegas the procedure stated above was done. At every stop there was no issue with the Meziere water pump working. Throughout the trip on Saturday, the outcome was a positive one. At the last startup at the Golden Nugget at 11:00pm, the procedure was done, but a visual of the color of the coolant was not noted due to any lights in the parking lot on the top floor. All day Saturday the coolant was a green color and was visible due to the Killer Glass that was installed originally.

On Sunday at my Charlie’s home, before the procedures stated above, the color of the coolant was a crème green. After the procedures stated above, the color of the coolant stayed the same color even though the Meziere was working. Once arriving at Starbucks and the color did not change, I called Eric Cheney and explained the issue. At that time neither Eric nor I had any idea why this was happening.

Upon leaving Las Vegas at 9:30am and following the procedures and arriving at Prim, State Line and filling up the Mustang. The color of the coolant did not change. It was still a crème green. After leaving Prim and starting the trip back home, I started to notice that the temperature gauge was not at the ½ point; it started to climb to the ¾ point. Then it would go back to the ½ point. This happen throughout the drive. At one point, the gauge went to HOT point at which time I turned off the A/C and turned on the heater. After the gauge went to the ½ way point. I then tuned the A/C back on. The gauge again would go from ½ to ¾.

I had been thinking where I saw this crème green before? I finely remembered and it was when there was air in the coolant. I pulled over in Barstow, CA and went to Kragen to purchase coolant. With the Mustang running, I was able to add ½ gallon of coolant. The color of the coolant changed from the crème green to the correct Preston green.
Upon traveling back home after the additional coolant being added. I wanted to do a test to see if the time before, when the vehicle overheated was a RPM and gear theory. So I was going 70 mph in 4th gear at 3000 rpm. I then noticed that the temperature started to climb. It then hit the HOT mark at which time I turned off the A/C, turned on the heater and watched the gauge go from HOT to ½.

After this test, the gauge would still go from ½ to ¾ throughout the trip and then back to ½. There was idea that Charlie Mares had on this trip. If we had a LED, green by choice, installed on the Meziere water pump, which would be a visual from inside the car to show if that the water pump is working. I tried to see if Charlie would either run next to the Mustang for a visual, but Charlie started to overheat. Then I asked Charlie to lie in the engine bay compartment, but the hood was not able to be shut. So, Charlie’s idea about the LED would be the best way to verify that the water pump is working.

There were no issues with the overheating when I did a 2300 mile trip to Steamboat Springs, CO in June 2008. Since that trip, at about 100 miles later the Meziere water pump had a bad bearing in the pulley, which intern fragmented the belt. A new water pump and belt was installed and since then, the Mustang has overheated 3 times.
If any LLR Member has any input in this issue, please tell me. I have since been told that a 2005 Mustang should never have the RPM’s at 3000 constantly. This is ridicules. That running at 3000 rpm the stang will overheat. Bull$hit.
My feeling is that the Meziere electric water pump is faulty and needs to be replaced, but Meziere will not replace it. Help….

Thanks in advance for any ideas...

Tom

[toorbeenee]

my advice to you is to go back to stock..try it for a while atleast 1000miles...if the car is not the same maybe you should try new set of wires....all the best to you man

[Fontech]

Just approved Impulse Engineering to install a Fluidyne Radiator. Hope the additional 1/2 gallon coolant will keep the stang from overheating.

Tom

[travelers]

Take a look at where the power wire is hooked to. You can't hook it to the alt. power feed. It needs to be hooked to a batt. direct through the relay. I have mine hooked that way for the last 14some months with no problem.

Your right about the creamy color, that is air in the system. Its a pain to bleed all the air out of these motors. I would also go back to the gold color coolant that Ford recommends.

[sqidd]

Coolant issues are never fun. There could be all sorts of answers to your question. In this case I would start will the K.I.S.S method though.

Put everything, and I mean everything back to stock and run it. If everything is not back to stock it is a useless experiment because you didn’t eliminate a possible problem from the test. If it runs great something about you “electric pump” setup is not working correctly.

Get a coolant system pressure checker for the local parts store, they should rent them. Pump it up to 16psi and see if there is any leakdown. You may have slightly lifted a head gasket the first time it overheated.

Overdue the gage of the wire that runs the water pump. Too little gage (flow) and the motor will not operate correctly.

Disconnect one of the coolant lines, get a ton of water ready to go into radiator (hose) and put a big bucket under the car where you removed the hose. Don’t start the car but run the pump and see how much it flows in a minute and then do the math. This will let you know if the pump is working correctly.

Switch back to the Ford coolant.

Replace the thermostat, they are $5 and can cause all sorts of problems.

[stlwagon]

If you are running power from the pos lead of the alternator, you need to change it to either pull from the BEC or pull off the pos battery lead. I ended up nearly melting the connection on mine when it was wired to the alternator.