Zorba's Jeep
Water Pump Replacement
Original radiator "puke bottle" developed a pinhole leak. This replacement
looked like it would develop an even worse problem in time!
Amazon shipped me a replacement (top).
In place.
Home made water pump pulley wrench. See text.
In place.
Big crescent wrench on fan's nut
Fan off
Apparently, this pop rivet in this one blade has to do with fan balance...I have an iron clad rule: When I purchase a new to me used vehicle, I always, always, always replace the hoses, belts, coolant, oil in everything, AND - the water pump. For whatever braindead reason, I replaced all of that on this Jeep except the serpentine belt and the water pump. I knew for a fact that the serpentine belt had been replaced 5 months before I purchased the Jeep (on the CarFAX), but where the Hell was my head with regards to the water pump? Why didn't I replace it when I did the hoses and coolant?
Of course, it bit me in the tail! Pump started leaking like a sieve in the middle of replacing the shocks. About the same time, the "puke bottle" (coolant overflow reservoir) developed a pinhole leak as well.So a new Gates brand water pump ordered, a new puke bottle ordered, more coolant ordered, and installation got under way despite the horrid Florida heat this time of year. As noted above, the first puke bottle showed a defect - Amazon replaced it no hassles.
There are numerous sources on the 'net that say all you have to do to unscrew the fan clutch from the water pump shaft is to put a wrench on it and tap it sharply with a hammer. Nope. Not with this Jeep - there wasn't enough belt tension to hold the water pump pulley - so a tool was needed. It was the usual story: local brick and mortar stores didn't have one, ordering one would have taken days - and they're all either overpriced or flimsy junk from the reviews I was reading. So out came the "Saws-All", the angle grinder and the drill press! An hour or so later, I had my tool (⅜" holes on 2¼" centers) and the fan clutch spun right off. Wasn't tight or stuck, it was just only barely too tight to come off without something to hold the pulley. Sometimes the best tools are the ones you make yourself!
There was some confusion as to whether or not the new Gates pump came with a new heater pipe. It did not, and the old one had had plenty of water get under its powder coat - pretty much like every other black non-moving item under the hood (as opposed to moving black items - the fan and most pulleys look brand new!) - so it was very rusty and bubbly under the powder coat. Time for a new one. Much to my amazement, for once "brick and mortar" actually came through - my local O'Reilly Auto Parts actually had this in stock! So on that went - even though its just looped back at the thermostat, bypassing the leaky heater core.
Old water pump. If I'm reading this casting date correctly, its either March
or April of '06, depending on if "current" was blank or the last set of dots.
New Gates, and old OEM, water pumps. Note rusty heater pipe. See text.
OEM has a plastic impeller, probably Delrin; New Gates pump has what appears to be anodized aluminum.
New Dorman #56398 heater pipe...
Comes pre-doped!
Installed on new pump, now that in turn is ready to install.
Oily gunk. As the VC gasket was changed by the dealer just before purchase,
I expect there was a quantity of oil that dripped down the front of the engine.
Several applications of engine de-gunker later...The old pump looked like it had been seeping for some time, before it decided to just barf coolant everywhere. Its removal wasn't anything spectacularly bad, the newer generation TJs have a spring loaded serpentine belt tensioner, which is a lot easier to deal with than the manually adjusted one the earlier TJs were equipped with. So the belt came loose, and once the fan was off, removal was easy. Gasket scraped off easily enough - although OF COURSE most of the gasket stuck to the engine block instead of coming off with the pump. Its always that way! I also used my nifty GM under hood light to be able to see and inspect the gasket seating surfaces closely with plenty of light on the subject.
Test fitting gasket.
The water pump bolts. The longer one, upper left, is upper center on the pump.
Now slathered with "Never Seeze".
Mounting the pump, using temporary studs.
Hookup lower radiator hose once all bolts in and tight.
Reverse angle.
Heater loopback attached to new heater pipe.
Filtering the one gallon of recovered coolant.
Engine running after test drive - no leaks. Note the seam in the serpentine belt!
New "puke bottle" with coolant.Installation went fine. I coated the water pump gasket with just enough Permatex to make it tacky, then installed same along with the new Gates pump using temporary studs to hold things while the first bolts went in. Coming from an ocean-going background, I do NOT like mating disimilar metals without some type of conductive paste or grease. The water pump mounting bolts were showing signs of both aluminum corrosion as well as rust - so "Never Seeze" was employed. Note: The Gates pump was "Hecho En China", so uses M8 hardware (supplied) to hold the water pump pulley. These bolts use a 13mm socket in leu of the original ½".
I had been able to recover exactly 1 gallon of coolant ahead of time, so I was able to re-use it but filtered it through a cloth "just in case". An additional gallon and a half of new 50/50 was also added. The test drive went very well, no leaks, no overheat, and I was able to finally test drive the new Rancho shocks at the same time! They certainly beat the worn out OEM shocks that should have been changed 75K miles ago or so!
Although this isn't my first vehicle with a serpentine belt, it *is* the first rear wheel drive vehicle I've owned with one - so that makes it the first vehicle that I've ever removed and replaced a serpentine belt on as I don't do much work on transverse engined, front wheel drive vehicles! The serpentine belt certainly is a lot nicer to deal with than multiple V-belts are! As noted above, the belt is only 18 months old, looks brand new, and the indicator on the belt tensioner is still pointing at "new" - so back on it went. I had noted while inspecting the belt, the presence of the seam where the ends are put together - and coincidentally, that seam showed up in the above picture - while the engine was running. The camera stop-action happened at just the right place!
Between the shocks and the water pump, the Jeep hadn't
been moved from its parking place in well over a month!
Went from this...
...to this in seven months!
Fabric faded, then rotted...
...then failed at wind induced stress points.
New cover, USA made, cheaper than the previous. I'd really like
to get at least one year out of them. We'll see how well it does.
The original screw in this location was starting to rust as water pools here.
Replaced with a 316 stainless screw of similar specification. One less worry.Read on for the next part!
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