Overheated XJ - water pump I think

I didn't quite make it home this morning... The XJ overheated (way into the red) and white smoke/steam coming from the hood. I noticed it at the stop sign, and figured it started leaking coolant a bit ealier, maybe 2 miles or so (rear window seemed to "fog" up but now I know it was coolant).

A coworker stopped and gave me a tug home. No obvious signs of leakage, so had him crank it for a few sec and shut it off. One of the pullies wabbled, and I could move it side to side after it stopped. Looked it up and it's the water pump, so figure the bearing failed.

I'm working 12 hour shifts, 6 days on, 1 off, for the next 30-35 days.

Is it tough to do? I'm figuring if I go into it, I should replace the thermostat, hoses, belt, that thing on the mechanical fan - can't remember name), and radiator, as they are probably all original and I've got 210,000 miles on it. If so, any recommendations on radiator, waterpump, thermostat?

Any idea how much it'd cost to have it done?

Think I did any damage to it?

Think I could drive it up my drive way if I was going to work on it - about 100 feet (parked infront of my house now - course, could use the winch to get it close and then just drive it 15 feet or so).

Thanks,
Mike

You can drive it that far, you shouldn't hurt anything. As far as the replacement of parts, I know MN vehicles (Born and raised in ND), Go all out and do everything while your in there.

I have to ask, What type of work do you do? You sound like your on a military schedule!

The "thing on the fan" is the fan clutch. Replace that while your at it. Cost is variable. Hit AutoZone or the like and shop for parts. DO NOT USE www.radiatorbarn.com! They have a BAD track record of poor packging and bnlaming the customer for damage in transit while refusing any refunds.

Dustin_Z said:

Hit AutoZone or the like and shop for parts. DO NOT USE www.radiatorbarn.com! They have a BAD track record of poor packaging and blaming the customer for damage in transit while refusing any refunds.

Click to expand...

I won't buy parts from Autozone. 5 bad alternators, plus relatives had similar problems. radiatorbarn.com send me 3 core radiator. Radiator cap opening was bent. Called them and said to straighten it out, and if any problem they would ship me a new radiator.

Took me 15 seconds to bend it out, used the radiator for 4 months. It started leaking. No issues they sent me another 3 core, and paid for me to ship the bad radiator back.



The second radiator had the same bent piece. Looking at the packaging CFS(?) just didn't package it right. They'll all be bent there.

ive had the same problem. it left me stranded with a broken serpentine, feel lucky you made it home!

you will need either a strap wrench, or a custom, home made tool thingy for holding the waterpump pulley, while you remove the bolts holding the pulley to the pump.

other then that, not that hard, totally possible in a day if your properly motivated

the same thing happend to me i was a half block from the parts house i was pulling in when the belt flew off i changed the pump and belt in there lot with a hand full of tools in 4 hrs. with the right tools and some experence 1-2 hr. job

what engine? i put a pump and a therm. in my 2.5 for less then 30 bux.

If the engine is cool, you'll be fine to drive it up the driveway. It won't take more than a day to do. It was my first big project and I'm pretty confident about it now. If you'd like I can snap a lot of pictures to help you out, since I spent a lot of time looking at walkthroughs.

I personally would spring for an aftermarket radiator. I bought a 3 row CSF since its a pretty darn important part. A factory water pump and thermostat should be fine too. Even if they aren't high flow, or high performance, the fact that they aren't all junked up will help you out considerably.

When your in there do your water pump, thermostat, radiator, hoses, belt, and fan clutch. There all connected and IMO there is no sense in skipping them. Once you get it all apart its pretty common sense stuff.

if the belt is still on loosen the bolts in the pulley before removing it, the belt will help hold it in place. same for putting it back on. get the bolts hand tight then put the belt back on. then tighten to spec.


it shouldnt take you more than a couple hours, 3 or 4 if youve never done this type of work before. its pretty straight-forward, not much to screw up

take lots of step by step pics and do a writeup of the whole thing, it will help the next guy that has this problem, and thats what this site is all about. you should be fine driving it up the driveway, it wont get hot enough in that short time to do any more damage, although i would be worried about cracks in the head if you drove it into the red. if you change out all the cooling system parts and its still overheating pull the head and have it checked out at a machine shop.

good luck, and if you run into any problems post up, we are here to help

:cheers: