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Coolent leaking at front of engine?

S

Spanky414

NAXJA Forum User
Location
North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Just noticed some coolent on the ground under my jeep when I came home today and it looks like it did it last night too. So I think it just started in the last 2 days, the coolent level in the bottle looks like its still where it always is so It must not be leaking much. It also doesn't leak when its not running as it just did a couple drips after I shut it down.

Its on the very front on the and around the oil pan seal. It doesn't seem to be the lower rad hose, nor the uppers or thermastat housing.

So I guess my only other option is the water pump is going or the seal is leaking just a bit on the water pump housing to engine block connection.

The only thing is when I stick my fingers up under the water pump pully I can't seem to find exactly where the weep hole is and my finger doesn't come back wet with antifreeze. Maybe its further up and in then I thought and i just can't reach?

Either way its probly the seal on the water pump shaft going right?


I low on money right now but do have a parts jeep with the front of it all pulled apart so the water pump is easy to get at, should I put it in? That jeep had a cooling system inspection and a new rad hose and rad put in so the pump should be fine.


Oh yeah if it just started leaking how long till the water pump just goes fully out on me? I have a 30 minute drive there and back to my parts jeep and then I can change it? Should I go get it or am I just going to get stranded half way there?
 
When my pump went bad it showed drastic results immediately. It may have been going bad for a while, but when it started to show it happened all at once (from no leaks, to a steady pour). Water pump is a fairly easy R&R, and fairly inexpensive to get a remanufactured unit from napa with a core change. If you pull it off, you will know if it is bad. There will be excessive play in the shaft bearing.

Also, if yours is as bad as mine was, you will not want to drive it 2 minutes, let alone 30 minutes. Mine took about 3 minutes to be at 230 degrees and it showed no signs of slowing down until I killed it.
 
Right now its not overheating at all, but I just can't see what else it could be thats leaking up front like that since it doesn't seem to be any of the hoses.

I don't think I'm going to take a road trip in it out of town though, I'll use it around town if i have to just to pick up the wife and kid after work but thats about it.

Yeah I was wondering about new vs reman. I don't see any reason why a reman won't be just fine so I think I'm going that route.

Thanks for the quick feedback :)


Oh, since I'll have it all apart I think I'm going to change the thermostat and flush the heater core too. Not connected I know but at least the system will be drained then.
 
I noticed that my coolant level fell a very small amount in the tank. Went looking for a seep. Took awhile, but found the back of the top hose at the themrostat housing, was seeping. Never did drop on the ground.
I´d find the leak, I´ve been fooled too many times.
I often dab at probable places it may be seeping with a paper towel, the white paper towel, shows up a color stain from your coolant. They sometimes leak so little, that most of the coolant evaporates on the hot motor, before it has a chance to hit the ground. I`ve have better luck. looking for leaks after first starting up and checking for seeps, while the cooling system builds pressure, just as it approaches operating temp. before the motor gets really hot.
 
before you replace the water pump, check the underside of the hose that goes from the overflow tank to the radiator filler neck, if it is worn through you will get a coolant leak that seems like a water pump leaking. just something to look at to maybe save you a couple of bucks.
 
Yeah good ideas guys, I'll give it a really good once over once I get in there tommorow before removing the actual pump. I already have the replacment but I'll hold off on putting it on till I know for sure where the water is coming from.

Oh yeah its an 88 so it doesn't have the filler neck on the rad, but I'll check in the general area your talking about.
 
Make sure and compare the pumps carefully. There are two different rotation pumps. One for vbelts and one for serpentine belts. Our local parts places are well known for getting them swapped. The impeller (sp?) is different on the two units but they look exactly the same on the outside.
 
The one you want has impellers looking like this:
waterpump.jpg
 
Thanks for the pix Yucca. That has bitten more than one person here in Colorado in the last year.
 
They only had one listed for 88 XJs with a 4.0 in it so thats the one I got, I don't have it right in front of me but it did look like that kind of impeller, is the other kind significantly different?

What I don't get is why is there a v belt one? What 4 liter came with a v belt style?

Are they maybe getting the 2 runs of cherokees mixed up and giving out a pump made for the 4.2? Maybe its v belt?

And whats with the whole reverse thing? My casting says REV on it and the new one doesn't but the guy in the store said its listed as reverse rotation and again thats the only one listed so I'm guessing its going to be the right one.
 
Reverse rotation is correct but they don't necessarily rebuild them that way. The impeller is a mirror image on the standard rotation. The standard was used on a few 4.0's with v-belts but both styles were used on the 2.5L. The waterpumps are interchangeable on them other than rotation.
 
I havn't got time to rip into it till today and am heading out soon but would a leak in the water pump come and go? Cause its not consistant, since first noticing it I have gone on three trips and it doesn't always leak and seems to only do it when you park it after a trip, not just a quick stop or idleing.

Annoying.
 
Most coolant has an anti leak additive, works a bit. Stuff is kind of thick anyway. The pressure in the system goes up and down with the temp., which sometimes opens a small seep, that will plug itself back up (sometimes).
The only real difference in the two water pumps, is the direction (orientation) of the impeller, the impeller is a mirror image, depending on the direction the pump is designed to turn.
Putting in a pump with the wrong impeller, doesn´t make the pump work backwords, it just works very poorly in the proper direction.
The pipe screwed into the water pump, often not present in the replacement, is sometimes hard to impossible to get out and/or sometimes crushes during removal. Having a plan 2, can save a lot of stress. Last time around, I used a thread to garden hose adaptor (brass) and garden hose repair coupling (brass) and extended the hose a bit. A couple of extra joints and hose clamps, but worked well. Have also used a heating pipe nipple, with the proper threads. If you use a heating pipe nipple, remember the threads are cut in a cone shape, don´t overtighten or you can split your new pump.
 
Spanky414 said:
I havn't got time to rip into it till today and am heading out soon but would a leak in the water pump come and go?
Click to expand...

Yes it can initially but it'll soon get worse and leak all the time. I've changed the water pump twice in the 9 years that I've owned my Jeep and that's how it started each time. The leak gradually became worse until about a month later when it became so bad that the pump leaked at a faster rate than I could top up the radiator.
For me it was much easier to replace the pump because I don't have a clutch fan (I converted to dual electrics). The biggest PITA about doing the job is removing the nuts that retain the clutch fan on the pulley (wear gloves when you do this or you'll be cussing all the way with cuts on the knuckles). The last time I replaced my water pump, I completed the job in less than 2 hours. I removed both electric fans with their shrouds in less than 10 minutes so I had lots of space to work in.
 
Well now that I'm into it, it looks like its just the lower rad hose thats leaking, I can't see any coolent at all around the water pump and pully thats attached to it (which of course doesn't want to come off). I only bought a water pump and of course the only parts store thats open today doesn't have any lower rad hoses in stock so I guess its going to sit till tommorow.

I don't think I'm going to replace the water pump if its not leaking. I'm going to replace the hose and run it up to temp without the fan and see if there is any leaks and if not replace the fan and shrowd. The fan was a bit of a pain because the shrowd woudn't come off without the fan so I had to work with it in place, the bolts weren't bad though thank god.
 
Nice reply 8mud. It's nice to see others with technical expertise have inputs and help out the other guy. Sounds like you have changed a few waterpimps :laugh3:

The tip on the threaded pipe was right on target. That one bit me once. Sealer or pipe dope on the threads is almost manditory on that stupid thing or it will leak as well.

An old trick I saw once for tracking down leaks was to mix up some flour and water. Cover the suspected area and let it dry to where the surface is covered with the white from the flour. Any leaks will show up real easy and can be tracked down then.
 
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