How do you know if your water pump goes out on your car?

I have a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. When I turn on my car I hear a weird sound. Sounds like the fan is about to come off, but I checked that….its on tight.

Posted in Maintenance & Repairs | 8 Comments »

8 Responses

  1. loonatic72 Says:

    Is you jeep overheating?? You can take the belt off and check all the pulleys and see if one is worn out. What kind of sound are you hearing. I own lots of jeeps and have heard all kinds of noises so what are you hearing?

  2. ellenburgmike Says:

    is your engine running hotter than usual??? it maybe the timing set rubbing the timing cover also……or the belt tensioner ….or the pulleys………carry it by your local parts store and get some ideas from them……

  3. sniper Says:

    Usually you will notice a drop in the water level of the radiator, the engine warning light may come on and you may notice a leak beneath the vehicle. Pumps have a weep hole that leaks water when the seal goes out. Also with the belts loose, you can notice movement if you grab the fan and move it back and forth. The noise could be the clutch on the fan blade.

  4. MANUEL G Says:

    before you condemn the water pump check you idler pulley for bad bearing if your able to remove serpentine belt manually spin belt driven components check for noise,start up vehicle for a few seconds,check for noise,water pumps have holes on the front part of the housing behind where the pulley mounts they r called weep holes they will leak coolant to indicate bad pump bearing seal,also a glazed or oveheated serp belt may be culprit. good luck

  5. JetDoc Says:

    If the water pump bearings fail, it will usually start leaking coolant, and it will sound like marbles rolling around inside a metal box. I believe your Jeep is equipped with a electrically controlled fan clutch which turns the fan on and off according to the coolant temperature. The noise could be coming from your fan clutch instead of the water pump.

  6. Colin W Says:

    There is a bearing in the water pump that can go bad. It makes a whirring noise but a water pump usually starts to leak before the bearing goes out. There are a number of bearings that the belt drives so you want to be sure of which one is gone before you change anything.

  7. Older1 Says:

    You are asking this forum to diagnose a problem that requires physical diagnosis. It is very difficult to give you accurate information without hearing , seeing and feeling. With the engine off, you can grasp the fan blades and apply light pressure forward and back (toward radiator and back toward the engine) to see if the entire fan rocks back and forth, if it does that is called “play” and it is most likely coming from the water pump shaft because the fan is usually attached to the water pump. But you really need an experienced mechanic to look at it and listen to give you an accurate diagnosis.

  8. Ratt454 Says:

    Look for rusty looking water stains around the water pump, if you see them there is no doubt. If that doesn’t work, eliminate all other posibilities and then replace the water pump.