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The new pump only set me back about $25 plus tax, and did in fact come with a lifetime warranty.

A good friend of mine had already replaced the water pump on his XJ before, so I enlisted his help and we set out to AutoZone to grab some new parts. I don’t think anyone ever said anything bad about the performance pumps, only that at $100+, they just weren’t worth it when compared to $40 or less for a regular replacement pump (that usually carries a lifetime warranty). So I started asking around on the various internet forums and email lists I participate on, and the general consensus was to simply stick with a factory replacement pump. My first thought was to get a FlowKooler pump, since they’re the big name in aftermarket performance water pumps and because I generally prefer not to replace a broken or worn out factory part with another factory part (if you’re going to be replacing it anyway, why not upgrade, right?). Once I finally traced the coolant back to the pump and determined it wasn’t the lower radiator hose that was leaking, I set about researching my options.

What was happening was coolant was slowly leaking out of the weep hole on the front of the water pump, and then running along the top of the oil pan and down the back, or dripping down onto the steering linkages and running down them before dripping onto the ground. The puddles were under the axle, under the back of the oil pan, or under parts of the steering linkages. When I first noticed the small random puddles of coolant that appeared under my Jeep if it had been sitting for a while, I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. On the front of the pump there’s a weep hole just below the input shaft, when the internal seals start to wear out, coolant will leak (or weep) out of this hole, letting you know it’s time for a new water pump.

Thankfully, whoever originally designed water pumps for engines added in an early-warning feature to let you know when the pump is starting to go bad.

The radiator has been replaced, the exhaust manifold cracked and was replaced, the power windows and locks are slowing, and most recently, the water pump started to die. As my faithful XJ has grown older over the years, it’s started to show signs of its age (and probably the results of all the trail use it’s seen).