Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Major coolant leak out of nowhere

AdelaideTJ

TJ Enthusiast
Original poster
Joined
Jan 6, 2023
Messages
123
Location
Adelaide, Australia
Just did an 800km or so trip with beach driving and bumpy roads in between and everything seemed fine, then when I was mucking around with a loose sway bar link nut and tapping away lightly with a hammer I noticed a few green drips around the lip of my oil pan, and that my radiator was low (was full before the trip). After topping off and getting up to temp on a brief drive there is coolant going everywhere! Seems my water pump has catastrophically failed. There may have been a slight leak and the hammer taps took it to the next level.

Hoping this is just a water pump failure and a relatively easy fix. Doesn't appear to be any issues with foamy oil (but I'm going to check tomorrow when I do the regular oil change I'm due for). Hoses etc all look fine and it's definitely coming from near the water pump. Just seemed strange to go on such a long trip without any apparent issues then have this fail so suddenly and completely. Maybe I rattled a few bolts loose, or it was due to fail anyway and I'm lucky as hell it happened in my driveway! The coolant is pretty corroded and due for a change.

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Lots of "while you're in there's" around the water pump... timing chain and gear for one...crank seal...refresh the cooling system. But with the state of new parts these days I'd probably just replace the water pump and maybe the fan clutch.

-Mac
 
Nothing on your trip or your sway bar doings caused the water pump to fail. Water pumps fail when they fail.

That's what I thought too. Was just that weird thing when you tap one thing over here and then something else immediately goes wrong over there and it just feels connected even though everything else suggests it can't be.
 
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Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts