I will be replacing a leaking water pump on my son's 2000 XJ soon (160k miles). Thought I read someplace about considering replacement of the fan clutch at the same time? Was I dreaming or is this a good thing to do whilst I have things torn apart or just wait for it to break/squeal? I'm thinking it would be a good idea since we just replaced the radiator last year (yeah, should have replaced the water pump when everything else was getting replaced) and not sure if the fan clutch were to go, it would damage the radiator or not?

Thanks - Mike

 

Yes usually they are done at the same time and at that mileage since it has not been done I would do it in my opinion

 

Thanks. I was thinking it should probably be done with that amount of miles. Otherwise a few months down the road I will be asking myself why I did not replace that while I was doing the water pump. Kind of like I am asking myself why I did not do the water pump when replacing the radiator, thermostat, hoses, etc.

 

I would also suggest doing the belt as well this way you do not need to take anything a part in that area for awhile again if the belt hasn't been done... ... I was just thinking that... Thought I would post it ... And no problem we are here to answer questions if we can help

 

Yep. I had replaced the belt when I did the radiator, hoses, thermostat, etc.

 

Sounds like your good to go after you do the Fan clutch water pump weekend have fun and good luck

 

Thanks for your valuable input!

Mike

 

How did it go?

 

Everything went fine til I was putting things back together. Apparently, Chrysler could not afford to allow an extra 1/2" of clearance between the radiator and viscous fan. When trying to slip the fan shroud and fan into position simultaneously (I have to do this at the same time since taking things apart, I could not, for the life of me, remove the shroud without removing the viscous fan) and get the fan over the pulley studs, things were not just slipping into place and the fan shroud snapped It snapped very easily which really surprised me how brittle it was. My garage was heated to ~60 degrees so it's not like the part was 35 degrees and brittle from the cold. Anywho, I ordered a new shroud thru partsgeek.com for ~$17 and now we wait.... Fortunately, this is a vehicle that is not a daily driver so it can sit for a few days til I get the new shroud. Maybe now that the project sits for a few days, I can resume it fresh and things will go better for final assembly.

 

Well that's not to bad at least it came apart easy... Yeah I don't understand the no space on it either but it runs good at least?

 

It's been running decent so far (162k miles on it). Motor still seems strong (I have a friend that has 1 with ~400k miles on it ). It has it's minor repairs that need to be made so I've got a list going:

1. It throws a vac leak code (might be I need to replace the vacuum line to the vacuum canister) and a cylinder misfire code occasionally (not sure why).
2. Horn doesn't work - probably the clockspring needs replacing
3. Driver door sag due to worn hinge pin and/or bushing
4. Headliner starting to sag
5. Starting to rust a little on the bottoms of the doors
6. Power window safety button issue (passengers cannot power the windows down)

Basic repairs that a 13 yr old vehicle with 162,000 miles.