The water pump on my '00 xj is going out. I got the xj a few weeks ago and it had a bit of a howl in the front end. Now i get a few drops of coolant coming from the weep hole after it sits for a few minutes. Also I can see the pulley spinning a little off center.

I have a '96 with a water pump that has about 45k miles on it. Is it worth saving the $30 on a new pump and using the old one? I am not familiar with how many miles pumps are expected to last. If I should buy a new one, am I ok to go with one from autozone?

Thanks

 

Personally I would just buy a new one and not worry about it. I bought my water pump from auto zone and I still have it on to this day and that was about 3 years ago.

 

That is what I am leaning towards as well. Will feel better knowing I have the lifetime warranty from there. Do you know how long it takes for the seal on my current one to fail since it is already dripping very slow?

 

If the pump has been out of service very long you could be installing another leaking pump. I would do as stated above replace with new one.

 

Perfect time to replace the radiator, hoses, thermostat & coolant too.

 

Looks like the radiator and coolant have been done recently. I was planning on doing the thermostat since I will have the coolant out. I think I am going to replace the coolant anyway too, it is a lot more neon-green than the Prestone stuff I normally use. It looks like alien blood. I have an almost brand new radiator and hoses on the '96 I had to park a few weeks ago, I might have to throw those on just because I can...

 

It can go at any time. I would replace it as soon as you can. Otherwise, it will happen on the freeway at 70 mph while on the way to work, or on the trail, away from tools and parts.