Water pump disaster

[Saurian]

So my buddy's '95 XJ (ixityre, he's not on that much) was leaking coolant from the front of the engine, more so when it was not running than when it was. That says to me water pump... So, I pulled it off, if anyone's attempting this little trick, it's wicked easy... Take off the electric fan. Then you need to slide the power steering pump so that the belt comes off... Don't forget the bolt that locks it into place. Then you have to take the pump itself off, at the point where the bracket that holds it bolts on to the engine. Undo the 4 bolts on the pulley wheel of the water pump, so it comes off the pump... Then you undo the bolts on the pump, undo all the hoses, and it comes right off... Have a tub handy, you'll lose a whole bunch of coolant if you didn't drain it first .

PROBLEMS FOUND...

Water pump failure is usually caused by a little bearing failing, causing pump assembly to wiggle, allowing coolant to bypass it. I had been wondering what the heck was making a scraping noise in the front of the engine, it was the pulley wheel chewing through the outside of the pump itself. Here's the really scary part. Upon inspection after taking it off, the interior part of the pump has been chewing a gouge out of the first cylinder wall. It's fairly shallow, and the walls are thick, so I am not extremely concerned, but I thought I should mention this, because it can be potential for some serious problems, I would imagine.

Just my thoughts... As soon as the new pump gets picked up tomorrow, it's back on the road, and I saved my buddy a fortune in labor, I'm sure... All I charge is lunch.

 

[Tug-n-pull]

Thanks for the heads up! Something more to watch out for! tug

 

[Saurian]

Got everything back together, and all appears to be well... System is filled with coolant, I think that we got all the air bubbles out, but I told Ben to keep an eye on the overflow tank everytime he gets somewhere over the next couple days...

Nice to not have that scraping noise... I figured it was a bearing going bad on the idler wheel or something, didn't even think water pump till it started dripping... Right when we got it to the tire place too, the guy's like "which Jeep is it?" (we parked side by side) I replied "The one that just started leaking coolant all over the place." Icky.

 

[Saurian]

Hee hee hee... It's been 4 days now, no dripping, no seeping, and best of all, no overheating... It's successful projects like this that put me in a really grand mood...

 

[mr2fyre]

RE: Comparing 2.5 litre TJ to 4.0 re: off-roading, performa

Hee hee hee... It's been 4 days now, no dripping, no seeping, and best of all, no overheating... It's successful projects like this that put me in a really grand mood...

You might want to inspect your hoses now too. Shortly after i replaced my pump I blew one of my hoses. A healty pump means slightly more pressure and the possibility of failures at the next weak point.

 

[Saurian]

RE: 85 cj7 4wheel question

Old hoses, and the connected factory clamps were banished along with the old water pump... I don't like having to do things twice. Thermostat housing also got a new gasket.