99 Cobra water pump vs. 98 Cobra water pump

[MustangDanny]

Need your help folks... I need a new water pump for my 99 Cobra. I've checked all the local parts houses (Autozone, Pep Boys, Advanced Auto, etc.) and they have the 99 Cobra water pump listed as a special order part, but they have 98 pumps in stock. The price for the 98 pump is about $40 and the prices for the 99 pumps are all around $80 and more. It get's worse... I go to the Autozone website and pull up the listing for a 99 water pump and it comes up with the part number for the 98 water pump! I go to the store and tell them that and they have that 98 pump in stock but on their store computer it says that this part number (B 125-1830) is only for the 98 Cobra. I don't know what to believe. All the 99 pumps are special order and I don't know if it will be in by tomorow (I have a Ford mechanic willing to istall the pump for me for free, but I'm leaving town to go home tomorow).

Can anyone confirm that the 98 water pump is the same for a 99? Would there be any difference between the 99 and the 98 water pumps?

Thanks

 

[AzSnake]

Ford changed the H20 pumps mid way through the 99 production model year.
Steed has something on it on their pulley install instruction on their site.

 

[MustangDanny]

Hmmm, I just read the article on the Steeda website (Steeda article) and it looks like it says that the change was in teh 2001 year. I guess I need to go outside and check to see if my pulley is the concave in or out. Hopefully that will tell the story.

 

[MustangDanny]

Here's a shot of my water pump pulley.

Click here

It looks like to me that it is the older style. According to the steeda website the older (longer) water pumps will have that pulley that is concaved to offset the belt location to the correct position. The newer ones (shorter) will have the pulley that is reversed to place the belt further out to make up for the shorter pump. So if I'm right, I have the older style water pump. What do you guys think?

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

Looks like the older style pump to me. I had the same water pump on my original 96 4v motor and the next two 99 4v motors that went into my cobra. My 96 steeda underdrive waterpump pulley fit both of the 99 motors.

 

[MustangDanny]

Just to update... I went ahead and bought the older (cheaper) water pump and put it in this morning. Went in without any hitches. Took about an hour and a half to do the whole thing (minus the huge cleanup I had to deal with afterwards... guess all the coolant didn't drain from the block... had a nice spill when I pulled the old pump off).