XJ Down

[HiJinx]

Was driving home a bit ago down Bell when I heard a sound that sounded like I ran over a cookie tin. My son and I looked at each other and we pulled onto 64th, which is where I needed to turn anyway. Thats when I realized I had no power steering, temp was rising and heard more horrible sounds.
Pulled right over and shut her down. Flipped on the hazards, grabbed my light and popped the hood. Smelled coolant right away.
Opened up the hood to see just a bit of coolant sprayed around and the s belt bundled up around the mechanical fan. Though, 'oh, snapped a belt whew".
But nope. pulled the belt out and it's intact.
There is a pulley, tensioner, or IM shaft pulley, not sure (new to jeep motors) that doesn't turn so well and looks like coolant is coming out from behind the crank pulley.
Any ideas?
If anyone wants, feel free to call me at 480-643-9684.
I'll be up till at least 1am.

[fallx13xflights]

Sounds like it has to do with the water pump... where about was the coolant?

[AZXJ]

Water pump siezed up or the idler pulley locked up.. I'm leaning twards the water pump pulley since your seeing coolent..

Dave

[HiJinx]

Yup, just got back in from glaring at it. Upon further inspection, I figured out that the pulley in question is the water pump. So, I'm happy it happened only a few blocks from home.
So, noob question time. Wrenching wise, I'm good to go, but how much am I looking at spending on a water pump and where is the best place to get a quality pump for a fair price?

[Tom Schenk]

You can get a new pump for less than $40 anywhere. I get mine from Napa. All you'll need is the pump/gasket, RTV, gasket scraper, and a torque wrench to get it done. Depending on your fan setup you might need a special wrench that you can borrow from autozone for free. You should replace the thermostat and hoses while you're at it; here comes summer.:(

[HiJinx]

Just so I'm straight there. the waterpump is about 1:00 above the crank pully right? (just making sure). Assuming that's correct, then I should be able to get at it pretty easy. The tstat is in the flange that's bolted to the head if I'm correct right?
Hoses are relatively new, but I may buy some anyway while I'm at it.
Thanks for yalls help as usual. Yall rock.

[AZXJ]

just remember you get what you pay for... that $40 water pump and lifetime warrenty are great and all but when the bering fails when your on the trail or in the middle of the climb up the rim, Autozone won't be there to replace it for ya... ;)

[Jdemonto@Airpark Jeep Sales]

I would pay extra for a factory water pump..should be a great price with your azvjc discount! PM parts@airpark Jeep

PS I think my moms pump went yesterday morning....

Jason

[AZLugz]

Just so I'm straight there. the waterpump is about 1:00 above the crank pully right? (just making sure). Assuming that's correct, then I should be able to get at it pretty easy. The tstat is in the flange that's bolted to the head if I'm correct right?
Hoses are relatively new, but I may buy some anyway while I'm at it.
Thanks for yalls help as usual. Yall rock.


Spend the money and replace teh hoses, but put the old hoses an T-stat, along with whats left of the rtv you use, in your trail supplies as spares, those parts will still be good for trail fixes since they are still in decent shape!!!

[DUFFER]

As others have said, get a quality pump.

As for install time...if you are handy with a wrench and replace the hoses and T-stat at the same time (which you might as well) the whole shabang shouldn't take 1-1.5 hours.

[Huck]

The only thing I can think of that may cause you trouble, depending on if your XJ is an open or closed cooling system, is getting all of the air out of it once you are done. That has poven to be a stumbling block for some folks and XJ's just don't cool well with air trapped in their system. Raising the front end so that the radiator fill is above the engine height normally works. Just something to think about.

[HiJinx]

The only thing I can think of that may cause you trouble, depending on if your XJ is an open or closed cooling system, is getting all of the air out of it once you are done. That has poven to be a stumbling block for some folks and XJ's just don't cool well with air trapped in their system. Raising the front end so that the radiator fill is above the engine height normally works. Just something to think about.

Ahh, so they have the same/similar issue as the old watercooled VWs I'm so used to building. I'm unfortunately all to familiar with the "crap, I must have air in there still" issue. Can drive a man nuts as it's such a silly problem.
Thanks for warning me on that one so I can deal with that ish right away.

[lancetkenyon]

Also, go ahead and replace the belt, might have a small cut from the fan, or a weak point from running on the seized pulley. Keep the old one as a trail spare.

[HiJinx]

Well, aside from flushing all the shards of powdered aluminium out of the cooling system (from the water pump self machining itself) and the heater line back in right, the rest was easy.
Thanks yall. :)

[Jdemonto@Airpark Jeep Sales]

I just looked at my moms xj and it appears to be the water pump as well....

Jason

[SavageSun4x4]

just remember you get what you pay for... that $40 water pump and lifetime warrenty are great and all but when the bering fails when your on the trail or in the middle of the climb up the rim, Autozone won't be there to replace it for ya... ;)

I replaced a starter motor with a NAPA lifetime guarantee one and of course cheaper than the OEM one.

Well the lifetime starter died on me last week, so I had Airpark put a new starter in. With my discount it was cheaper than NAPA and I expect it to last much longer.

All the guarantee's in the world do you no good when sitting on the side of the road or trail and your down...THANKS, Jason and Eric of Airpark for getting me up and running again.;)

[cw50must]

My last Napa water pump last almost exactly 2 years. I just replaced it but thinking of getting a spare. Mine gave out just as your did although I was in rush hour traffic on 202 on my way to work :(