Those who recently replaced their radiator and water pump.

[Jeepcrush4]

Did you have to remove the fan or fan clutch? It looks fairly straight foward. Loosen fan housing, remove top support and access is right there. Lastly, the vehicle is far from my house so I have to bring a set of tools to get both water pump and radiator installed. Anyone remember specificdlly what size wrenches / sockets I need? Any helpful hints would really help. Thanks guys

1997 xj 4.0l auto

 

[Jeepcrush4]

Anyone

 

[danblue636]

One quick tip I found...If you take the air filter assembly out and off of the inner fender...you will gain a ton more room to work in. As far as the fan clutch is concerned...I would go ahead and take it off while the water pump is in the XJ. They can be a pain to remove when the whole assembly is out. Good Luck!

 

[joe_peters]

I don't remember the sizes, just take 8~15mm and 3/8"~9/16" combination wrenches and same for 3/8" drive sockets and assorted extensions, assortment of screwdrivers, scraper, and a BFH.

 

[Banditt007]

When i did my radiator, i did not remove the fan clutch assembly, just unbolted the shroud around it. When i did my water pump, i also did not remove the fan clutch assembly, though getting the pump in and out was a tight fit and i flexed the fan shroud a good bit.

 

[Jeepcrush4]

Update: I did not remove the fan or clutch. I threw in a new pump and radiator and completely flushed the system. While some have different choices I used dexcool. I've used dexcool in every vehicle that I've owned and have never had a problem. I've red that the cheapo green coolant causes rust and premature breakdown.

Tools necessary for water pump and radiator replacement are:
10mm socket
8mm socket
1/2 socket
9/16 socket
15mm socket
19mm wrench
all extensions
cutters
clamps
3/8 ratchet
scraper

thanks for the heads up on removing air filter housing. A very big help! Good luck to anyone else.

 

[joe_peters]

Flushed in Flushing. Poetic. :cheers:

 

[Jeepcrush4]

Couldn't have said it better myself

 

[drifto77]

thanks for the heads up on removing air filter housing. A very big help!

That IS a HUGE help aint it,
Good to see ya got the job done.

 

[UltimateG]

I just finished replacing my water pump a few minutes ago. Things I learned:

There's no way I could do this without removing the air filter box.

I thought I might be able to leave the fan in place and pull the water pump out around it. I couldn't, and ended up stopping in the middle of the job to remove the fan.




So, how long do I need to let the red RTV sit before I can drive it again?

 

[cracked-butt]

during the summer i was in florida (basicaly on a giant red-ant hill) and replaced my water pump in the middle of the night under one of those street lamps, only it was in the middle of a yard lol. as it was 0'dark hundred, i was tired AND tryin to be quiet it took me a little bit of time to replace. think it was around 2 hours. being quiet so as not to wake anyone up in the trailer isn't as easy as one may think.
but i was able to do it all without having to remove the fan, the shroud did come off though the electric fan came out though
part of the reason it took me so long is i was workin with hand tools only, no power/air tools. so the removal of the pully off the pump wasn't so easy lol.

as for your question on the RED RTV, no idea, never used the red stuff, just the blue rtv gasket sealer/maker.

 

[87manche]

I just finished replacing my water pump a few minutes ago. Things I learned:

There's no way I could do this without removing the air filter box.

I thought I might be able to leave the fan in place and pull the water pump out around it. I couldn't, and ended up stopping in the middle of the job to remove the fan.




So, how long do I need to let the red RTV sit before I can drive it again?

funny, I just replaced the radiator, t-stat housing and water pump on my MJ, converted to the HO cooling setup.
I didn't take the fan off and had no troubles. The power steering pump hoses are much more annoying.

As to red RTV.
Tighten until it just starts to squeeze out, let dry for 30 minutes, finish tightening, let dry another 30 minutes, good to go.

 

[96XJ_4.0]

I uaed a fel-pro paper gasket for the thermo housing. I also purchased a fail-safe t-stat...

It does not leak...but will it eventually? Should I have used gasket maker?



My gauge dropped 15 degrees and it runs better than ever!

 

[hubs97xj]

Paper gasket is fine as long as it's torqued correctly, according to some of the posts I read (some people swear by gaskets, others swear by RTV, some like shellac on a paper gasket). Few years, 30K or so, no leaks yet with just the gasket and some rtv on the housing side (holds the gasket in place while you're putting it together).

 

[96XJ_4.0]

What's the torque spec for the thermo housing?