Changing the water pump

I'm pretty sure the h2o pump is going bad - the bearings are starting to make noise (and getting louder by the day). I'm on a business trip in Chicago, living in an apt & don't have access to a garage (I've got my tools, though

How hard is it to change the water pump? I tore apart most of the motor last summer putting in the Borla header, so feel pretty comfortable with it, but am wondering if someone's done this before, how long it will take, etc.- I don't want to make a huge mess in the apt parking lot, but don't know how long until the pump goes all the way & I overheat...

I changed mine on the side of the Interstate, I'm sure you can pull it off in the parking lot. I took out the electric fan, that made it a lot easier. I also loosened the power steering pump, but that might not be nessesary. You don't need to tear apart as much as for a header, trust me

oh yea, you might want to drain the coolant. I didn't because it already spilled a healthy ammount onto the ground when the pump exploded. If you want to drain it you might want to use the lower radiatior hose, since that is below the pump.

Fix it before them bearings go, it really will kinda "explode" and take out your belt with it

Supernova,

Here is what I posted on the previous version of the board. The stuff about the coolant pressure bottle or cap may or may not apply to your XJ:

The process is pretty easy so let me try to list them for you.

Drain the radiator - this is done by removing the grill. The petcock is in the passenger's side tank. You will need 2 feet of 1/4" hose to let the coolant drain into a bucket and not all over everything.

Remove Electric fan - Disconnect the electrical connection and remove the two bolts holding it in place, make sure to put the bolts and the sheetmetal nuts in a safe place.

Break troque on water pump pulley bolts - take your wrench and break loose the bolts while the fan belt still installed. It easier now to remove the bolts than later when the belt is not holding the pulley.

WARNING
Be careful you can damage your radiator while adjusting the belt tension. Use card board to protect the raditor.

Loosen bent tensioner - the power steering pump is the tensioner, you will have to loosen 2 bolts on the back, the pivot bolt at the top of the front and the nut on the slider rail. Once those are loose then turn the long bolt and you will loosen tension. You need to turn the head counter clockwise to take off the tension.

Remove mechanical fan - You wil need to use an open end wrench to get the 4 nuts off the fan clutch. You also have to remove the two bolts holding the shroud in place. Save the shroud bolts just like you did for the electric fan. You will lift out the shroud and the fan together, can't lift them out seperate.

Remove power steering pump - Disassemble the pump and lay in on low in the XJ so the fluid stays in.

Remove power steering pump bracket - remove the bolts and place the bracket to the side.

Disconnect the radiator hoses - I found it easier to remove them totally and reinstall when i was done.

Disconnect heater hoses - disconnect hoses from the water pump and the thermostat housing.

Remove the thermostat housing - found this makes work a little easier

Remove the pump - loosen the bolts and remove.

Transfer heater hose tube to new pump - I had to put my pump in a vice and use a 24 inch pipe wrench to get the tube out of the old pump. I installed it in my new pump using teflon tape.

Install new pump - with the heater tube in place install the water pump using a mopar water pump gasket and NO addional RTV. The Mopar gasket does the job all by itself. Then use your torque wrench to tighten the bolts to the factory torque.

Install lower radaitor hose - install the hose, transfer any antichafe to the new hose if you are installing new. Tighten hose clamps. I found using a little silicone grease aids in the removal of the hoses in the future and caused no leaks. I got the sil-gel at NAPA, its listed for disk brakes but works well here also.

Check bearings - check the idle pulley and the mechanical fan fully for noisy bearings, replace as necessary.

Install power steering pump and bracket - just the reverse of what you did before.

attach water pump pulley - install and tighten bolts but you can't fully torque until the fan belt is installed.

Install fan belt - Route the belt and tension. Perfect time to install a new belt.

Install thermostat and hoses - installe new mopar thermostat with the provided gasket, same advice on this gasket at the water pump. The hook up your upper radiator hose, and heater hoses, tighten.

Install cooling fans - install the mechanical fan, then the electric fan. I recommend you change out the mechanical fan clutch while you have it out.

Fill with coolant - follow the craigh guidelines http://www.olypen.com/craigh/cooling.htm I personally use distilled water in my 88 XJ not tap.

Check for leaks and you should be done.

Stuff you need from your work bench:
* Teflon tape
* Torque wrench for the values give on instructions of the water pump gasket pkg

Stuff to buy at any parts store
* water pump
* 2 feet of 1/4 hose
* upper radiator hose
* lower radiator hose
* Fan belt
* cooling fan clutch
* new hose clamps - prob pay less at a real hardware store
* Engine coolant
* Distilled water - get it at the grocery store, 80 cents/gallon

Stuff to buy at the Jeep dealer
* water pump gasket
* 195F thermosat, it comes with a gasket
* heater hoses - if your hoses need to be replaced I learned the hard way the dealer ones fit right. The goodyear hoses I stalled were close but not right.

Coolant pressure bottle - if your bottle is yellow you can get a new one at the dealer for $45, one from quadratec.com for $20 or go with the moroso tank with will require a little heater hose modification.

Pressure cap - you may want to replace this if you are keeping the bottle. You can only get the cap for the closed system at the dealer.

I also took a box of zip lock bags and put in the bolts from each thing - water pump, PS pump, etc - in a bag and labled. Made reassembly easier and quicker.

HTH, that is what I did when I changed my water pump.