new guy with a question

Hey there, Been lurking for a bit as I ended up with an '89 Cherokee limited a few months ago from a family member. Although I am not super familiar with the XJ's I have a lot of experience with both CJs and SJs as well ans Eagles.

At any rate....The 89 had a loose water pump shaft when I got it...So I changed out that and put in a new thermostat and hoses. I bled the air out of the system by jacking the rear up and releasing the air from the sensor. The jeep pegged the temp guage in just a few minutes. Suspecting a bad stat, I changed it again and re-bled.

Since then, while chasing the issue I have changed the head gasket, checked the fan clutch (it will hold a piece of paper against the front of the radiator...good flow) and flushed the radiator a second time and changed the temp sending unit.....

What I am wondering right off is that perhaps I got the wrong water pump. Doing further research shows that there wer both regular and reverse flow pumps made. I no longer have the original to compare to.

So the question is....is there any way to tell which is needed, perhaps by the direction of the belts on the pump etc which is needed?

Thanks for anyone who can offer thoughts on this one. I really like the XJ...it'll just take me a little while to get used to it's quirks.....

Jim

If it's got normal fan belts I think it should be marked F, if it has serpentine belt it needs to be marked R. That said I'd compare it with a newer one and see which way the yours vs a serp spins.
As for the overheating, thats a closed system, I bet the turtle on the firewall is bad, thats actually a pressure tank, NOT and overflow, and they go bad, develop cracks and bad seals on that cap which is also a pressure cap. www.quadratec.com sells them or you can do a search on 'surge tanks' and come up with some steel and aluminum alternatives to the plastic one.

I'm not real familiar with the older ones down to which F or R water pump it takes.

Thanks for the quick reply....

It is a serpentine belt system....so from your description it should be an "R" style. Most of the online catalog systems only list one for an '89....but I am reaching for whatever at this point.

The "turtle" (still a great name for the thing) has been replaced as well....suppose I should have mentioned that. I see no leaks from it.....

Jim

Last thing to do would be to install a new radiator...when I first got my '89 I went through the exact same steps as you, even replacing the head gasket too. Turned out the radiator was shot. It was the orginal that lasted about 11 plus years. It didn't leak...it just stopped cooling even after flushing.

Also best to have a descriptive topic title...

OOps...you are correct, I should have.

Perhaps the next thing then is to either have the radiator gone through (a friend works at a shop) Or maybe just buy a new one depending on the $$$$$.

Jim