I drive a 1988 XJ Limited and recently put on my RC 3" lift with new springs and coils and bought some new 15" Soft 8s and mounted some new 31" Goodyear Duratracs. So last night me and a few friends decided we would go out camping and got everything ready and loaded up the jeep to go. Everything was fine for the first 150 miles.... until we decided to get gas. I pulled up to the pump and shut off the engine and the first thing you hear is boiling and then smoke floods out from under the hood so I get out and prop it up and find that the coolant bottle looks like it is about to explode and let it get all of its pressure out and cool down then proceed to take the cap off and put more coolant in (problem solved right?) so we get to driving again and finally get out to where we were camping and as soon as i shut off the engine it does it again but this time i notice most of the water is actually coming out from the front of the engine (not the radiator, looks more like the water pump but I'm unsure) and it's coming out at a pretty fast rate. We decide it's not a good idea to camp out because we might not have a way home and we won't be able to wheel anyways if the jeep is overheating so we let it cool down and pour more coolant in the bottle and close it up hoping to get as far back as possible, except now it starts overheating while I'm actually driving making it so we have to pull over every 5 miles to let it cool down and pour in more coolant, so after 150 miles of that and finally getting home I pull up to the house and my jeep just takes a **** everywhere pouring out everything, I got under the front to see from where and it's all pouring out right onto my lower serpentine belt (where I think the water pump is located but am unsure) and it's coming out fast, picture turning on a faucet half way. I'm not the expert so I'm coming to you before I order any parts and start taking the front end apart to get to the problem. BTW coolant cap is tight and so are all hoses I checked them all multiple times! Thanks for any help you guys are able to give me!!

 

How old are cooling system components?

 

Sounds like a water pump to me.... I had one take a dive this weekend without warning. It had not been loosing any coolant and started streaming like a water faucet with no warning.

 

this is the water pump (new silver piece) might look a little different, as i think this is off a 99.


here is a little write up about it, and other parts though...
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/co...upgrade-69207/

upgrading is good but not always needed. i would replaced your thermostat as well, overheating can ruin the wax expanding element in it. hopefully you didn't warp the head or ruin anything by driving it while overheating it.... good luck

 

The old pump was pretty old... but I just dropped my new radiator in 2 months ago with a new over flow bottle as well so I figured those weren't the issue, I'm pretty sure it is the water pump and Gorrilaxj thank you for that picture it helps as well as the link! I'll have to get in there and start taking it apart and fix it, been to busy lately as I just had my neighbor and close friend fly home on leave from Iraq for a few days and I've been with him since then. I'll post some pictures later when it's light and I'm working on it to see if there's anything else I might need as well!

 

New rad fan clutch and t-stat while you're doing the water pump?

 

if you are gonna stick with the fan clutch, go with the 4 cylinder one. they are bigger (wider not taller) and the are like a heavy duty one for the 6 cylinder.

 

Definitely the water pump. They are designed leak out when the bearings go bad.