Water pump OEM FORD or Hepu

Hepu--the bomb,99% reliability,MADE IN GERMANY.

Graf and Hepu make 12v metal impeller pumps, direct fit no mods.

Any replacement whether it br Graf or Hepu are going to have a metal impeller and be an exact factory replacement. The wheel itself will be identical in shape and circulate the same volume of coolant.

I ordered one from MJM Autohaus, a Hepu unit and its impeller is metal

Metal impeller model is available but can be hard to find (Hepu brand). Recommended interval for changing is 80-100K depending on who you talk to. But many fail earlier and may fail as early as 20k. Change as preventive maintenance.

My original plastic impeller pump failed at 145k miles. I replaced with with a metal impeller pump (Hepu IIRC).

The 3.5 5th generation Explorer has an internal water pump driven by the timing chain. It’s an enormous pain to change requiring significant disassembly (nearly 12 hours of labor) and generally includes replacing the timing chain in the process since you’re already in there, plus when it fails it can easily mix the coolant with the oil and destroy the engine, all that’s keeping them apart is a little seal.

Update. The replacement HEPU water pump is now leaking.. from the freeze plug…

Replacement HEPU water pump is now leaking… from the freeze plug.. gonna let it ride and try a different brand when I change the belt in 50K miles

I’ve now popped two water pumps. Each of them have sprung a leak from the freeze plug. I seat the pump and o-ring by hand then torque bolts to spec.. each time they’ve been good for about a month or so, then start leaking from the freeze plug.. both pumps have been made by HEPU.