Motorhead X Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Woke up to a drip at the connection for the lower radiator hose yesterday. At first I thought it was just the hose, but after replacing it there is still the same 10 second drip that seems to be originating at the water pump and traveling somewhat downhill. It also overheated very quickly after refilling the radiator and starting it up. This was the first time I have ever seen the idiot light go off. Jeep dealer quoted me $105 for a Mopar replacement pump. Is there an equivalent off brand pump for cheaper I should consider? I read a lot of posts here and watched a bunch of Youtubes. Any chance of not removing the radiator, fan blade and T-stat housing? It took me three tries earlier this year to seal the T-stat housing. Any other wisdom is appreciated... Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 You can get it off without taking off the thermostat housing......but do you not have 2 bolts Lowe right that go through a bracket for the power steering pump and a idler pulley......that is more of the tricky part.....but it can be done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead X Posted September 13, 2018 Author Share Posted September 13, 2018 4 hours ago, yxmj said: You can get it off without taking off the thermostat housing......but do you not have 2 bolts Lowe right that go through a bracket for the power steering pump and a idler pulley......that is more of the tricky part.....but it can be done Yes, there are two bolts for the power steering pump which I will unbolt and then move the pump over to where the air box sits (I did this before once when I replaced the exhaust manifold). I figure the Idler pulley will need to come off too. I am hoping there is enough room to do all this without removing the radiator, but I might decide to do it anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead X Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 Help... I purchased a replacement inlet tube for the new Mopar water pump, but right away it didn't seem happy going on, so I didn't force it. I pulled the old inlet tube off the old water pump, cleaned it up a bit, wrapped a little teflon tape on the threads, but it wouldn't go on easy either. I decided to go for it, but it will not screw all the way on, leaving about three threads worth remaining. I took it back off. Anyone had troubles with the Mopar water pump inlet threads? Or maybe I'm just the lucky one... that needs He-man to tighten this thing on. Thanks in advance. -bnn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankTheDog Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 The heater hose pipe is NPT thread which is tapered. I did a water pump this past weekend and it had a few threads showing when it was as tight as I felt was right. Don’t force it any more, it will split your pump. The fan shroud is really hard to take out with out breaking it with the fan still in place, it does not want to go past the fan clutch. If you take the radiator support off you may be able to get the shroud past the clutch. At this point I cut a notch in the shroud to clear the clutch. A little wider than the clutch and almost the full depth of the shroud. Remove electric fan. Power steering pump I remove the 2 bolts holding it to the pump and one to the block. Move pump out of the way. While power steering pump is out of the way take time to service the adjuster in the bracket. (This was on a 1999 so yours may be a little different.) Take water pump off clean mounting surface and get it dry. I use permatex tac a gasket in the spray can and spray the block and water pump. Make sure you have the gasket lined up correctly before setting it on the pump. Same with lining up the pump with the block, put two bolt in 180 degrees apart and start them with out drawing pump against block, start remaining two bolts the bring them all up finger tight then torque them down. Connect hoses and reassmble power steering bracket and pump ant put fan and shroud back in. Fill radiator and overflow tank. Here is what I do to make sure the cooling system is full. I drive up a steep bank in my yard and make sure the radiator neck is higher than the rest of the system, this lets all the air out of it.Let the engine get up to temperature on the gauge, you should see where the thermostat opens and the temp drops briefly then starts going up again. Shut it off and let it cool for an hour or more. Once cool top it off again and bring over flow tank to the correct level, take it for a short drive to get it up to temp then park it on level ground and let it cool off again. Check levels once more and add if needed but probably won’t. I have done it this way over a half dozen times all with good results. I have seen way more blown head gaskets and cooked engines with new water pumps on them than I have without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorhead X Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 Excellent instructions for this job. Thanks. I thought the threads looked tapered! I’ll give it another go without trying to get the pipe on all the way. Strange how the old pipe was installed all the way down to its base. It made me think I was doing something incorrect. Maybe the old pump was threaded differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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