Water Pump failure...what additional parts needed?

I have never changed a water pump. My first Jeep was a 90 and I only used it to tow my boat at the time. I have a 1989 5 speed with 4.0l and no AC. Today I thought my lower radiator hose blew so I bought a new one and installed it. That fixed it a little but I "think" now that it is coming from the water pump (possibly the weep hole). While I attempt this, what else should I replace? I searched "water pump" and got 16 pages into it then gave up which got me here.

She is my daily driver but not my only means of transportation so she can sit until I get parts together and teach myself how to do a water pump swap.

Thanks guys.

NBD.

The serpentine belt is a little in the way but I just leverage it out of the way with the 3/8" extension I was using.

Expect the bolts to be eaten up. Try and be careful and hope they don't break off. One bolt is longer than the other. Replace them with stainless steel bolts or studs. If you use bolts coat them with anti-seize, if studs then Locktite them in place.

Thanks Joe. I am going to order a new pump tomorrow. I'll be in Portland this weekend so I will have to save working on this till next week. Sucks it broke, I was looking forward to playing in the snow this week they say we're getting.

joe_peters said:

NBD.

The serpentine belt is a little in the way but I just leverage it out of the way with the 3/8" extension I was using.

Expect the bolts to be eaten up. Try and be careful and hope they don't break off. One bolt is longer than the other. Replace them with stainless steel bolts or studs. If you use bolts coat them with anti-seize, if studs then Locktite them in place.

Click to expand...

might as well get a new thermostat while you have it off. and get a spare gasket, for some reason they seem to be easy to mess up.

if your doing the water pump then its a great time to take care of some other cooling system maint. replace the radiator and heater hoses, replace the t-stat (housing too), and flush the cooling system. of course replace with fresh coolant

Look carefully at the condition of the tube for the heater hose, which is threaded into the pump body. It's often hard to get out without damage, so if it looks really rusty and nasty, consider putting a new one on, or at least make sure that you have that possibility if you end up breaking it. In other words, don't do this job on Sunday night if you need the Jeep Monday morning. I think it's a standard NPT thread size, and you can get a hose nipple to replace it if you add a bit of length to the hose.

Okay, I have had the misfortune of replacing a heater core before. I gave up a PITA '86 Trooper for my Jeep. But you guys lost me talking about the heater core on the Jeep. I haven't bought a service manual yet but I "think" it's my water pump. It's in the front of the engine, right?

Here is a picture from behind the radiator and you can see it leaking after running for 10 seconds:


and the flow from below (up front)


I would think it's the water pump since its coming from the part that the lower radiator hose connects to the part in question. I had an 2002 Explorer when and bought it new and I had blew a head gasket so I know the signs of that...exhaust smoke and coolant coming out the exhaust so I don't think its that.

Also if it is in fact the water pump, any recommendations on a replacement brand? I don't mind teaching myself this but want to make sure I'm getting the right parts.

Not sure if my previous post was entirely understood. If you look at the water pump you'll see on the top left portion a nipple, to which the heater hose is clamped. This nipple is generally not provided with a new pump. Length and curvature vary with year. It can be a bear to get the old one off, so consider replacing with new. I think at some point not too long ago 5-90 on this forum had some suggestions for specific brass hardware to roll your own. You might want to PM him on that.

In my experience, XJ water pumps often fail at the bearing before the seal, and this makes diagnosis pretty easy, since it often wobbles a good deal before it leaks. Coolant through the weep hole, if confirmed, is dead certain bad pump.

Matthew Currie said:

Look carefully at the condition of the tube for the heater hose, which is threaded into the pump body. It's often hard to get out without damage, so if it looks really rusty and nasty, consider putting a new one on, or at least make sure that you have that possibility if you end up breaking it. In other words, don't do this job on Sunday night if you need the Jeep Monday morning. I think it's a standard NPT thread size, and you can get a hose nipple to replace it if you add a bit of length to the hose.

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this.

It's like a 7 dollar part from Dorman, I buy one every time I put a water pump in. Get a can of PTFE thread sealer dope (not the tape) and apply a liberal amount to the threads, that way you can turn it to whatever angle you need to for the tube to point into the right spot between the engine and the AC compressor without the pre-applied thread sealer not being enough. I helped install one on a ZJ on Sunday (friend forgot to buy one to go with his new pump) and we had to slightly flatten the tube with a pair of vise grips in one spot to clear the valve cover, otherwise install was a breeze.

Get a can (not the plastic bottle, the can) of Indian Head / Permatex Gasket Shellac as well. Coat the WP side of the gasket, install on the pump, then coat the other side. Do this *after* test-fitting the pump to make sure that when it's seated fully, the heater core inlet tube clears the valve cover.

Okay that all makes sense. In the Trooper I had all the heater core stuff was near the firewall so I assume the pump was up that direction too then. I will tackle fixing it in another week. No way I'm working on it during the week and at night. Glad I didn't sell my car after I bought this or my sense of urgency would be much higher.

If I get stuck I'm sure more questions will come! You guys are awesome with the knowledge!

Matthew Currie said:

Not sure if my previous post was entirely understood. If you look at the water pump you'll see on the top left portion a nipple, to which the heater hose is clamped. This nipple is generally not provided with a new pump. Length and curvature vary with year. It can be a bear to get the old one off, so consider replacing with new. I think at some point not too long ago 5-90 on this forum had some suggestions for specific brass hardware to roll your own. You might want to PM him on that.

Click to expand...

I just replaced my outlet tube with brass hardware. About a month after I installed my new water pump, I started weeping coolant through the nipple threads, despite a generous application of PTFE paste. I didn't want to go through the hassle of removing the water pump (and all the other associated labor) just to tighten the nipple another turn, so I cut it off close to the pump so it could be unscrewed without the elbow hitting the valve cover. Replacement parts were a 3/8" MPT x 5/8" barb fitting for the pump, a short section of heater hose with a 90 degree bend to replace the tube, and a 5/8" barb x 5/8" barb to join the new piece of hose to the stock heater hose. Don't forget the hose clamps...