Water Pump replacement 3.8L

bumpus

New member
Supplies:
New water pump (the one from Autozone comes with a gasket)
Gasket sealer RTV
Orange Anti freeze
Distilled water
Penetrating Oil (if needed)
Accessory Belt (if needed)

Tools:
Bucket
Slip Joint pliers
3/8" rachet
Philips screw driver
13MM socket
10MM socket
Razor blade

Start by draining some coolant out of the radiator and engine block.

Ignore the service manual's suggestion to use the drain cock at the bottom of the radiator. It's difficult to reach, near impossible to turn and likely plugged anyway. Here's a picture of the thing you shouldn't use.
2013-04-05 18.43.53.jpg

Easiest way to to the draining is from the lower radiator hose. Move the intake, filter and air box out of the way. The intake unclips from the airbox with four metal clips, the airbox pulls off the fender with a firm pull upwards. Then use channel lock pliers to move the hose clamp off the lower radiator hose. Put a bucket under the jeep, then pull the hose. Catch as much coolant in the bucket as you can. The picture below shows the lower radiator hose pulled and a portion of the coolant collected into a bucket.
2013-04-06 13.12.14.jpg

Next, take a good look at the accessory belt. You'll need to remember how it goes on later. Take a picture, or print mine.
2013-04-06 13.12.22.jpg

Put a 3/8" ratchet into the square hole on the belt tensioner and push down with your left hand. Use your right hand to move the belt off one of the pulleys once you get enough slack in it. When the belt is off look at it and decide if you should replace (mine was fine)
2013-04-06 13.12.49.jpg

Put a screwdriver into one of the empty holes on the water pump pulley to hold it still. Use a 13MM socket to remove the three bolts that hold the pulley to the water pump.
2013-04-06 13.35.43.jpg

Remove the pulley from the water pump, I needed some penetrating oil and a large screw driver to break the rust that had the two stuck together.
2013-04-06 14.22.14.jpg

Here's the pulley sitting on my driveway.
2013-04-06 14.22.26.jpg

Get your bucket in place under the water pump and remove the 7 bolts that hold the pump on using a 10MM socket.
2013-04-06 14.31.33.jpg

Drop your ratchet into the bucket of coolant.

Cuss.

Pull the water pump forward off the engine. Let the coolant run into the bucket below. Then use a razor to scrape off the old gasket from the engine.
2013-04-06 14.32.28.jpg

Prep the new pump and gasket. Get a nice bead of gasket sealant all the way around both sides of the gasket.
2013-04-06 14.50.17.jpg

Put the new water pump in place and replace all seven 10mm bolts. Tighten carefully and evenly.
2013-04-06 14.52.06.jpg

Reattach the lower radiator hose.
2013-04-06 15.00.41.jpg

Use channel locks to slide the hose clamp back in place.
2013-04-06 15.11.09.jpg

Put the belt back on wrong, as shown below. Cuss. Then fix it so it looks like the picture at the beginning.
2013-04-06 15.30.46.jpg

Pour antifreeze and distilled water into the radiator through the cap until bubbles stop. Alternate pouring small amounts of the water and coolant so that you end up with a 50/50 mix in the system. One the bubbles stop, start the jeep and keep pouring more in as more bubbles come out.
2013-04-06 15.30.49.jpg
 

nmwranglerx

Caught the Bug
Nice write-up. I laughed at the "drop wrench in coolant and cuss" part. I had to do this on my jeep about six months ago. I agree about just disconnecting hose to drain. I tried use the little drain port and it was a bloody mess.
 

seanb123

New member
awesome write up did it earlier today and surprisingly I dropped my wrench in the coolant... and cursed of course
 

kyle521

Member
Trying to figure out if its my water pump thats bad, noticed no coolant in the jug when I got home today and it looks like theres a leak on top of my water pump. Does this sound like a failed water pump? Hoping its not something more serious.
 

seanb123

New member
Trying to figure out if its my water pump thats bad, noticed no coolant in the jug when I got home today and it looks like theres a leak on top of my water pump. Does this sound like a failed water pump? Hoping its not something more serious.

What do you mean by on top?
 

bumpus

New member
Water pump probably wouldn't leak out the top. I'd suspect that it's an intake manifold gasket in that location. Fixing mine is my project for labor day weekend.
 

zackattack810

New member
Stuck pulley

I have been trying everything I can think of short of the screw driver. How did you position it to help break the rust free
 

wagonrd

New member
Water pump 2017 JKU Rubicon is larger and more elongated than on 2011 and down models. It took me 6 hours to remove the pump, primarily because 6 of the 9 bolts were in tight places, requiring many twists of the socket for each bolt revolution, and very tiring while on my back with arms upraised in cramped spaces. To get to the pump I had to remove the serpintine belt, requiring godzilla strength to move the belt tensioner, achieved by a pipe extension on the handle of the socket wrench and a "come along" winch attached to a tree trunk. Turns out that my original pump was good, the overheating was caused by a faulty thermostat, checked it's operation in a pot of boiling water, the plunger never moved. So, folks, a mechanic in a shop earns his money big time when working on a JK Wrangler.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk
 
Top Bottom