Jeep Wrangler TJ Water Pump Replacement

My Fan was REALLY stuck. I ended up making a cheater bar out of a piece of 3/16" steel with a couple 11/32 holes (well, one hole and one slot) to match up to the W.P. Pulley. I relieved some material in the middle (like a crescent moon shape) to allow for clearance to the fan clutch nut. Gave me enough leverage to hold the pulley and break the nut loose. This is the general idea, though its my prototype. That is very thin material...

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I can’t find the ‘97 2.5L pump at the amazon link above. Rockauto has some, and Napa seems to have a model. What are my options if the MOPAR pumps are unavailable?

Edit: Napa Tru Flow Water Pump

Edit 2: I may be having a slow morning...this part wasn’t listed when I navigated parts by year, but I found it with a different search...can someone confirm this link gets me the 1997 2.5L water pump?
 
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lunchbox3 said:
I can’t find the ‘97 2.5L pump at the amazon link above. Rockauto has some, and Napa seems to have a model. What are my options if the MOPAR pumps are unavailable?

Edit: Napa Tru Flow Water Pump

Edit 2: I may be having a slow morning...this part wasn’t listed when I navigated parts by year, but I found it with a different search...can someone confirm this link gets me the 1997 2.5L water pump?
Click to expand...

That second one is indeed the correct water pump for your 97 2.5.
 
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Anyone have an extra metal pipe for sale? or knows the part number?... mine is broken in 2 and i have to use a short piece of hose to join the two pieces of tube and avoid any damage from the pulleys if I attach the hose directly to the first piece of pipe closer to the water pump... I'll search junkyards for the moment and maybe start by buying the gaskets of the water pump so when I have the tube installed also inspect the pump.
 
Irving said:
Anyone have an extra metal pipe for sale? or knows the part number?... mine is broken in 2 and i have to use a short piece of hose to join the two pieces of tube and avoid any damage from the pulleys if I attach the hose directly to the first piece of pipe closer to the water pump... I'll search junkyards for the moment and maybe start by buying the gaskets of the water pump so when I have the tube installed also inspect the pump.
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C6JCU0/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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Sounds like most people are just fine with just the gaskets for the tstat and water pump - no additional RTV, sealant, etc?

I installed mine this way but haven’t refilled the coolant yet.

Just saw a post on a Facebook group where a lot of people were saying to use some type of sealant in addition. I’ve seen good arguments that this isn’t necessary and even counterproductive.
 
Pulled into Costco for gas today and when I got out, I was leaking pretty good just above the front diff behind what I believe is the crankshaft pulley. Saw the engine coolant resevoir was VERY low and surmised that I was experiencing a water pump/bearing failure, especially after checking the video in the OP

I'm gonna try to fix this myself. Definitely the most advanced repair I'll have attempted but luckily the video in the OP matches my model year and trim exactly. Right now, I've got two questions.

1) Any tips for properly setting the gaskets? I've watched the OP video and it seems fairly straightforward but I'm nervous about getting the gasket right so it doesn't leak again. Both for pump and thermostat.

2) I should just go ahead and replace stuff like the fan clutch, hoses, the thermostat, etc... while I'm in there right? I'm going to use MOPAR for the pump and Gates for hoses, Stant thermostat, but that doesn't mean I don't need to save $$ if possible. I'm not buying a new radiator right now, it's just not in the budget. Worth it to just do the other stuff at the same time?

I legit just flushed the system a month ago so of course this would happen now :) Hopefully I correctly diagnosed it and this will resolve the issue
 
How'd it go?

Got home on Sunday afternoon and found water sitting under my parked 2006 Wrangler X that had been sitting all day in my garage. Water pooled on garage floor exactly where the water is located in the Chris Fix video. Parts are on order from Amazon. Will tackle this one soon.
 
You're positive that's where it's leaking from? It went well for me besides radiator going 3 days after I finished the other stuff. I did the full overhaul and it runs noticeably cooler on the gauge. Nothing dramatic but seeing the condition of the old stuff, no way it's not an improvement. Was easier than I expected but also took way more time. Good luck
 
Tackled this job over the weekend. I would recommend getting new hoses (links are in the cooling system mega thread) and/or getting the spring clamp pliers which are about $13 on Amazon.

When I took off the factor hoses and spring clamps the hose ends were a little flared after 14 years under pressure. Getting the factory spring clamps back on without a spring clamp tool was a real time and morale waster.

Everything else seemed to go smoothly. I have driven the Jeep a couple of times and haven't seen a drop of coolant.
 
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When you go thru all this, find a radiator shop and have it flushed and test your radiator. They are very repairable at very cheap rate. In Wichita, it was less than 100 to overhaul.
 
bigshark88 said:
Tackled this job over the weekend. I would recommend getting new hoses (links are in the cooling system mega thread) and/or getting the spring clamp pliers which are about $13 on Amazon.

When I took off the factor hoses and spring clamps the hose ends were a little flared after 14 years under pressure. Getting the factory spring clamps back on without a spring clamp tool was a real time and morale waster.

Everything else seemed to go smoothly. I have driven the Jeep a couple of times and haven't seen a drop of coolant.
Click to expand...

So the one non-OEM part I put in the project was a $14 Dorman water pump inlet tube (more like a pipe). I decided to save some time and just put a brand new tube into the brand new water pump assembly instead of wrestle out the old tube for re-use. I ran to Advance Auto Parts and bought the water pump inlet tube along with some thread sealant the night before the job. That one non-OEM part has failed. It has failed on the uphill side of the large nut just North of where it screws in to the water pump housing. Gonna have to take the entire MFer apart to swap it out. Unbelievably frustrating.
 
bigshark88 said:
So the one non-OEM part I put in the project was a $14 Dorman water pump inlet tube (more like a pipe). I decided to save some time and just put a brand new tube into the brand new water pump assembly instead of wrestle out the old tube for re-use. I ran to Advance Auto Parts and bought the water pump inlet tube along with some thread sealant the night before the job. That one non-OEM part has failed. It has failed on the uphill side of the large nut just North of where it screws in to the water pump housing. Gonna have to take the entire MFer apart to swap it out. Unbelievably frustrating.
Click to expand...

Is it possible you over tightened it? Saw several comments about cracking the tube or the pump by doing so when I was preparing to do mine. Sorry that happened. I used the same part from Dorman
 
bigshark88 said:
So the one non-OEM part I put in the project was a $14 Dorman water pump inlet tube (more like a pipe). I decided to save some time and just put a brand new tube into the brand new water pump assembly instead of wrestle out the old tube for re-use. I ran to Advance Auto Parts and bought the water pump inlet tube along with some thread sealant the night before the job. That one non-OEM part has failed. It has failed on the uphill side of the large nut just North of where it screws in to the water pump housing. Gonna have to take the entire MFer apart to swap it out. Unbelievably frustrating.
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Before taking the pump off, consider this. move not done it put seen pictures.

Replace the tube on the pump with an appropriate sized fitting with a barbed end on on end, then but the proper length of hose you need and join the two hoses together with a double barbed fitting and clamps.
 
I cleaned all the paint of the threads of my dorman pipe before installing back in November.
 
That's a REALLY good idea. Do you know if that's a kit that someone sells?

About over-tightening; that may have occurred. Based on where (I think) the tube is leaking, I may have kinked it when the WP was already on the front of the motor and I was getting the tube lined up with the hose. All other tightening I did was in a bench vise with an appropriate-sized box wrench on that nut.
 
It’s not a kit that I know of. A hardware store would have both fittings and then you’d have to go to a parts store and find a hose that is the diameter you’d need. If you could find one that has a bend molded into it would be even better.
 
khakitj said:
Sounds like most people are just fine with just the gaskets for the tstat and water pump - no additional RTV, sealant, etc?

I installed mine this way but haven’t refilled the coolant yet.

Just saw a post on a Facebook group where a lot of people were saying to use some type of sealant in addition. I’ve seen good arguments that this isn’t necessary and even counterproductive.
Click to expand...
Looks like this question never got answered. What is the recommended strategy here, both for the water pump as well as the thermostat housing? RTV? Gasket alone? RTV + gasket? RTV on both sides of the gasket? So many options!

I've only done this job once before on a Ford 289, and I'm pretty sure I used RTV to some extent. I've done several non-Jeep t-stat housings and they all used RTV.....and several JKU 3.6L's which did not. Would love guidance from the masses regarding the 4.0L.
 
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