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Ok you mechanics...

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I noticed a squealing chattering sound on the way home from work tonight. When I got home I popped the hood and noticed small puddles of coolant in random spots. I am thinking water pump? I had coolant problems this summer and ended up replacing the radiator and hoses. I'm wondering if the issues I had at the time might be the root of this.

The chattering sounds were coming from that area and I think the squealing was from the coolant hitting the belt. I have Friday through Monday off work and planned on hunting all 4 days but I have to fix this as well and I don't want to spend a bunch of time and money screwing around chasing ghosts. If it's the pump I'll replace it and be done.

I should add that I didn't see any coolant leaking from anywhere, just laying in spots.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
Dave, there's a weep hole in the lower end of the pump on the housing and when the shaft seal starts going bad it'll leak outta there.... You can feel it with your finger and can feel the fluid coming out of it.... Your pump shouldn't be too bad too change.... Depending on the year the shroud around the fan blades will be in two pieces and you can remove the top half for ease of removal of the clutch fan and the pump itself.....

Also if the water pump is worn the fan will have side side too side play in it..... So grab the fan and try too maybe side too side and if you have any movement that'll let you know as well but if it's leaking it'll need changed regardless.....
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I couldn't find the wheep hole when I got home, but I'm assuming the coolant is coming from there and the fan and belt were blowing it around the engine compartment. As far as side to side movement, it did seem like it had just the tiniest bit of wiggle when I grabbed the fan blade and tugged on it.
I'll plan on replacing the pump Saturday morning, hopefully that's the problem.
 

PSE13

Active Member
1,032
91
Shelby
He pretty much covered it. I don't know what kind of vehicle you have. We have too replace them on new cars all the time anymore especially the Chevy cruze.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
Dave there's a lot of help videos on YouTube and they offer some insight on how too change them..... I always go too YouTube and check for things I haven't done or haven't done in a while lol....
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
That water pump isn't bad to replace. Did one on my old Jeep I sold to your step son. My shroud was all one piece and when I took it off I never put it back on lol. It was kind of a pain in the ass to get off of there getting it around the fan blades. Should take about an hour to get the old one off and clean the old gasket off and about 30-45 minutes to get the new one on and bolted down. Really not that bad.

The wife's van had the water pump go out early summer. When it was working on going out you could hear almost a metal ting or clunk when the prop inside the pump would get to a certain spot. Did the same as your Jeep is doing and would spit small amounts of coolant and it would end up different places on the engine. Towards the end it would drip on the belt and have a little squeal when stopped and idling. That was a pain in the ass to replace and hard to get to and went to the shop.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
The only real hurdle with mine is the lines from the ac compressor that run right over top of the pump. The Haynes manual says you have to reclaim the coolant and disconnect the them but I have also been told you can simply take the compressor loose and just flop it out of the way with out having to disconnect anything.
 

angelzd28

Junior Member
I had to replace the water pump on my now sold 95' jeep grand cherokee. Took me and my uncle a couple of hours, not to bad considering I have very little car skills, hence my uncles help. Either way wasnt to hard
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
That got expensive in a hurry and I ended up with an all day chore out of it.
started my day waiting for my stepdaughter to get up to watch brailynn while I worked on the jeep. While I was waiting, I found a YouTube video that was about the same year and motor as the one I was dealing with. Thanks for the tip J. After chelsea finally got up I went to the shed to get my tools. What a mess. I keep our household trash out there until it is time to get rid of it and something, either a cat or a coon, got in there and destroyed the trash bags. Shit was everywhere. Spent about 2 hours getting that mess cleaned up before I could start on the jeep. There is now a trap set in there, I don't know what it was but I'm gonna get that little bastard.
so I get started on the jeep. One thing the video pointed out was that once you got the fan blade loose, keep a good hold on it so once it spins off if doesn't drop and damage the radiator....


...you guessed it, droppedal that sum bitch and poked a hole in the radiator...the one I just replaced a couple months ago. FUCK!!

My wife was at work and I had no way to get to the parts store till she got home at 2:00. Then it was a matter of finding a store that had one.
so after another couple hour delay and $160, I had a new radiator. Back in buisiness. I already had every thing tore apart, just needed to put it back together.
So I managed to get the new pump in without incident. The new radiator was going good until I had the dreaded "dropped socket" that little 10 mm socket dropped down in behind the headlight and dissappeared. I still don't know where it went. I do know that I needed that little dude to tighten almost every nut on the radiator brackets. Luckily my wife had left for the store and I could have her pick one up. Oh and of course I just had to loose one of the small bolts as well.
I finally managed to get it all back together, change the oil, refill the coolant, clean up my mess, set a trap in the shed, and test drive the jeep just before dark.
I felt like I had pissed someone off and karma was screwing with me all day. But it's done now. Got good heat, thermostat seems to be opening normally, no obvious leaks. I'll keep an eye on it for a couple days but it seems good to go.

No hunting in the morning, my back is screaming, and all my stuff needs the coolant and oil cleaned off of it.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
Dave, did you change the thermostat as well???
Yeah, dropping the fan has nothing positive too it lol.... Haven't done that luckily and sorry too hear you did.... Shit happens though and you got it all done which is the main thing.....