So I was here in Oregon cruising up I5 blaring music and crusing. I hit traffic and turned down the radio. I instantly heard a "Thwap Thwap Thwap". I was scared that I burned an exhaust valve or had a connecting rod come loose in the block.
I pulled over and got out to look. I popped the hood and saw that there was a 8" ribbon of the belt that had frayed off and was slapping everything in sight. I trimmed off the ribbon with my knife ( I had 2 more exits to make). I drove another ~2miles and... Thwap Thwap Thwap... I pulled over again and saw a puddle of coolant on the ground. I podded the hood and saw that another ribbon had formed. when the ribbon whipped around it struck the adjustment nut on my stainless steel hose clamp, backing it off 1/4 turn each time! it actually popped off my upper radiator hose!. I put it back on and trimmed the ribbon. I now had about 2/3 the width of the belt hahaha. just for the fact of risk/reward I attempted to drive again, I made it about 100 yards before my belt snapped.

I thought it was a faulty belt.

I got towed 20 miles home, the kicker: I had a spare on me but no tools FML!.

the next day I went and got a replacement belt. went home, put it on, started her up and it sounded bad so I shut it off rite away. I went to inspect, and the belt had tracked out towards the fan, away from the block. I called car quest and they told me that I blew my bearings in my water pump and thus... it has alot of play, especially in the direction of force. basically the pulley was wobbling and pushing the belt into the fan SHREDDED!

I went and bought a NEW water pump, ATK non hardening sealant, and the gasket came withthe pump. this was all ~$44

it was a relatively easy fix. by now I had popped belts on and off about 5 times so I was as speedy as a nascar crew.

1.Take out air box and all piping
2.put a paper towel in the carb ( keep it clean)
3. remove the 1/2 inch bolts on the powersteering pump... 1 is on top facing front bumper, second is on upper back (facing fire wall), then the tensioning rod (1/2") bolt head faces driver front tire on bottom. last, remove the tensioning nut (1/2") on bottom front, facing the radiator.
4. set the powersteering unit and hoses intact, where the air bow was.
5. now you have the mounting bracket. now you have to use the 1/2" attachments and i think 14 mm for the larger bolts. ( at this point its very open and all bolts are easy to see... not going to explain
6. now all you have is the water pump left...
7. there are 4 ...1/2" bolts to remove. I backed them all out about half way and broke the seal with a catch pan to catch the coolant. (***PLEASE COLLECT AND RECYCLE AL AUTO FLUIDS***DONT CONTAMINATE WATER SUPPLIES***)
8. it took about 20 minutes to drain (* I had just replaced my coolant and thermo stat the week before. I opted not to drain the whole coolant system because the coolant was new. I just filtered my collected coolant and replaced it.
9. remove the thermostat housing, directly abovewater pump. main upper radiator hose feeds into it. 2, 1/2" bolts is all. you have to remove this because there is a contorted metal tube that snakes behind the radiator hoses to accecpt an incoming radiator hose. ... basically you have to. remove the pipe from old pump and notice oreintation for when it is installed on the new pump.
10. remove the radiator hose connections... 1 on the contorted pipe, another on the airbox lower side.
11. remove water pump
12 replace water pump ( clean gasket fittings etc...)
13. thread bolts, attach radiator hoses, tighten all bolts on H20 pump and thermo housing.
14. re-attach the water pump mounting bracket.
15. restore power steering pump.
16. restore belt with the OEM depression gap for tensioning
17. restore air filter assembley.
18. hope all is well so you dont have to do it again ( spent time cleaning your gasket surfaces!!!!!)

took me about 4 hours including part collecting commuting time

sorry there arent more pics, I was kind of pissed lol

 

Yep

 

do u need any parts, i have a complete motor sitting here at home

 

I had the same thing happen to a blazer I was driving about....20 miles from home.Not sure I it was fore-see-able though.

 

well, you could check for symptoms when you change your belt or thermostat. if you have your belt off, pull/spin/shake/whatever the H2O pump pulley. if it has play or the bearings dont feel great, $40 to prevent $125 isnt bad

I have it all completed, thanks though buddy

 

This is the second failed water pump thread I have read in two days.

The other thread, the guy overheated and blew a head gasket.

His pump failed internally, the pics showed his impeller blades ( the things that move the water ) had completely eroded away.

I am thinking of putting new water pumps on both of my XJ's this weekend just for the peace of mind in knowing both will be good for a while. ( I hope )

You are right, $40 now beats $100+++ later on.

 

exactly, and ill tell you what, Its thesmoothest my jeep has ever run! ya my impeller blades carved out 1/2 of the internal housing and the pulley face started cutting through the outer of the pump. big forces here

 

If you are looking for peace of mind, while you've got the water pump off, it's a good time to replace the hoses too.

 

ya, theyre not too old yet. in a perfect world, a guy would replace: water pump, thermostat, coolant (flush), and hoses all in one sweep

 

I agree. I just got my XJ ( 96 ) and came here scouring to find out what's breaking on them.

I do know the PO replaced all the hoses, did a coolant flush, battery, alternator, and tune-up within the last 4-6 months.

I'm going over it now, wanting to do all the fluids. Did the oil, now diffs, trans, tc.

Even have a new distributor to put in, the one in there now has too much slop in the shaft from side to side.

Since I am swapping out the cluster to put gauge in I also have the luxury of replacing Oil and Water sensors.

After I get everything done that I can find, something I missed will go wrong!

 

youve got the XJ fever my friend... think of all the activities next for you... bumpers, lights, lift, tires, hood vents, internal and exo roll cage, sound system...