G'day Jeepers,

Today on my regular Sunday AM cruise I started to hear a funky noise that I can't describe; about a mile later there was a loud bang, loss of power steering, and a lot of dark fluid on my windshield. I immediately shifted to neutral, shut her down and coasted to a stop.

I thought the motor was cased for a moment but then I realized the dark liquid was really dirty water. It turned out the water pump (only a year old and maybe 2k miles on it) seized up, the shaft into the water pump sheared off sending the radiator fan into the radiator bending two blades and tearing 2 very large gashes into the radiator destroying it.

My question to the forum is are there any particular brand of radiator or water pump any of your prefer, or just stock? The stock radiator is about $200 and the water pump about $60.

My second question is would you advise on replacing the fan blades or bend/hammer the two bent ones back straight? I donÆt know if the fan blades are balanced or not; It's a question I have never thought of or heard anyone discuss.

The kicker of it all is I was on the side of the road with my hood up (pulling the parts off) for about 30 minutes when not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE jeeps drove by and did not stop! WTF? I must admit I was a little hurt. I had a friend come out with the flatbed trailor and drove her on to tow her home.. 30 miles out, no cooling capabilities, and 95 degree Florida heat was a bad combo.

Thanks in advanceà - Mike

Yes stock radiator and pump is good!
NO NO NO! Get a new or used fan! Fans are balanced to the maximum.. I know it seems you can get em straight but you CAN NOT! Don't even think about beating on them with a hammer.
Be sure to flush out the radiator that dirty stuff on the windshield should never have been inside the cooling system.
Living in Florida you can put straight antifreeze in there and not the half and half... Your new pump will last a lot longer with new PURE stuff in there.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

When I replaced mine a few years ago on my CJ7, I went to 1800radiators.com, and autozone for the waterpump. The radiator for the 4.2 was about $130 with a lifetime warranty, and their customer service was great! I even had the radiator replaced once under warranty. The hood clearance wasn't right, and it rubbed the filler neck loose. They replaced it, no questions asked!

Thanks for the consistent reply on any question I post Big Jim. I do appreciate it.

I figured stock would be my route, but I wanted to check with the pro's. Thanks for the tip on all coolant instead of the mix. My reservoir had the green coolant in it, but that must have been just about it! That water coming out of the radiator was nasty and I imagine that could have been the culprit to the early demise of the water pump itself.

I thought the blades of the fan had to be balanced due to the clutch and the mechanics with the pulley and pump; thanks for clearing that up too! I guess this would be the one part where giving her a good whack with a big hammer is not so good! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

Thanks again! I'll have her back on the road in a week or two.

- Mike

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Good looking out Chris! Thanks for the information, I'll be looking into the radiator on the link. If you are getting good results with them and they are standing behind the products, I'm in. I do appreciate the input.

- Mike

Unfotunately, I don't own the jeep anymore, but I ran that radiator and the Autozone waterpump (also lifetime warranty) for about 3 years before I sold it, and as far as I know the kid that bought the jeep is still running the same setup.