Water pump / Serpentine Belt

I was driving home last night and i heard a really bad noise coming from the engine and before i could even get a chance to pull over, my power steering goes and I knew something was fucked under the hood.

I pulled over, look, and the serpentine belt was ripped and had come off the pulleys. I drove really slow home and then I heard liquid pouring out from below the jeep so i pulled over again and it was pissing coolant but it was too dark to see where it was coming from.

Since I wasnt too far from home, I drove home with no alternator/power steering, and radiator fan. The tempature was pretty high, probably around 240 ish and my oil pressure gauage was lower than normal.

I took a look at it this morning and went to napa to get a new belt. They said its probably the water pump that was pissing the fluid, so we went home and checked it and the pulley on the water pump is fucked. The pulley wont really spin freely and its like warped sort of.

Has this happened to anyone else ever and how hard is it to change a water pump and get the belt back around all the pulleys?

Before you get into the job, take a few minutes to find out why the belt shredded - spin the pullys by hand and see if they're properly aligned. Typically, if a belt shreds like that, you're looking at a fronzen pully or a misaligned pully.

Pay particular attention to the alignment of the bottom (crankshaft) pully, as the elastomer ring in it can start to deteriorate and cause the outer ring to 'walk' off the hub, and the most common pullys to freeze seem to be the upper idler and the A/C compressor pully, but also pay attention to the alternator as well.

Getting the new belt on isn't terribly difficult, but it does help to know what it looks like with the old belt on before you get ready to do it all over again. I don't have a scanner, but someone here who does could probably take a useful pic for you - what year and engine? That would help...

Be sure to check the rest of your pullys before you get too far into the job. It does sound like you lost the shaft bearings on your water pump, but you should make sure, since the belt is off anyhow, and there's no point in doing the job twice...

5-90

Oh - and please do mind your tongue here. I understand your frustration (having been there myself a few times over the years...) but we try to stay fairly "family-friendly" here. It takes a little effort on all parts, but this ain't Pirate... Go there if you really want to vent - vulgarity, profanity, and epithets seem to be de riguer there, and it's a great place to go when you want to stir the pot...

The water pump probably siezed as you described, it won't move freely, which caused the belt to snap. If the pulley (the part that contacts the belt) is damaged, it will need to be replaced but it actually is a seperate part that bolts onto the water pump shaft so you might not need to replace it. I do not think the water pump or belt replacements are difficult.