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changing my water pump time needed

19K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  ashevilleyjmike 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Lets hypothetically say I am going to replace my water pump, that I don't really know what I am doing (I do have a haynes manual), but I have all the right tools....can someone give me an idea on total time from start to finish? I am learning as I go on my yj...

thanks
 
#2 ·
take your time if this is your first time ding any mechanical work give it about half day maybe 4 to 6 hours.becareful when tightening bolts try to follow the specs on the hanyes manual with a torque wrench to avoid any leakage from the pump.a small leak is the worst leak,you wont know until everythings messed up.for your first time i would suggest remove the grill and radiator to get a good view at what your doing.and try to keep the belt away from any liquid. and for the gasket put a lil bit of gasket greese to hold the gasket in place while your tightening it.once your about done make sure the fan isnt going to hit your radiator or anything good luck
 
#3 ·
thanks...tomorrow is going to be real nice in Northern VT (mid 70's)...so I was thinking of taking my yj (which is just a summer driver) out for the first drive to work of 2010, but I have a water pump leak. I was thinking about just bringing some coolant with me, and then after tomorrow when the weather gets seasonal again to deal with the pump.

Would that be a big problem of I just checked the level of the coolant to make sure I don't run dry? I have a drip from what I assume is the weep hole, but I want to drive her tomorrow....what do I do?

Part of me wants to not hurt the environment by dripping coolant...part of me says I just burned 7 cord of wood into the atmosphere, a couple of drips aren't going to push me over the edge to enviro-devil.

thoughts?
 
#4 ·
fix the water pump, it's not going to get any better and you don't want it going out on you at a bad time, put you between a rock and a hard place for sure.

Also, check all of your hoses and radiator, if it's the original rad. you need to check it for leaks and corrosion as well.
 
#6 ·
Should take about 3 hours.

First remove the top water hose- go ahead and take it off the thermostat as well. I would go ahead and replace this if it is worn any at all.

Second is the fan shroud-- there will 2-3 bolts on each side- once out you will have access to the fan itself.. Take the 4 nuts/bolts off in front of the fan pulley. Fan should slide off.

next loosen all the belts and take off the heater hoses to the water pump- there will be 2 of these. Then the lower water hose.. REPLACE THIS ONE NO MATTER WHAT!! A top hose is easy- try being stuck in mud and trying to crawl under your Jeep to swap a hose.. not fun.

Once all the hoses are off the pump- your ready to get it off.

take off all the bolts that hold it on.. now if you are buying a brand new pump- make sure they have the studs for the fan- if not buy a universal kit- (very cheap).. rebuilt may have the bolts on it. REPLACE YOU THERMOSTAT while your at it. Get a new gasket as well. This is very cheap and a few bolts is all that holds it in.

make sure you scrape/sand the old location where the new water pump will be mounted. If you fail to get it clean- it can and more than likely will leak.

use some gasket sealer and put the new gasket on the new pump. gently slide a bolt in it holding it in place and put it back where came off. hand tighten all the bolts and then torque to specs.

reinstall all the hoses- fan and shroud- and refill with anti-freeze and you are set!

have fun and make sure to pay attention to anything in need of repair on the front end while in there. It would suck to have to redo it anytime soon.
 
#9 ·
Don't do what I did......
Be sure to let the gasket sealant set up. Read the instructions on it...I waited about 24 hours before starting it up.

I did'nt do this the first time and it ended up blowing the gasket, so I had to do it all over again.

After doing the water pump and thermostat on my YJ, I was able to do my wife's XJ also....very similar operation.
 
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