What causes a water pump on a car to go bad????? and are they a pain to change by yourself?????
Bearing siezes/ Housing leaks/ Seals wear out. All do to use, expanding/contracting due to heat and cool down, and time also. Just a side note for Bryan K a car being FWD or RWD has no bearing on how much room you have for the waterpump or vice versa. This is a generalized statement that holds no truth. I'll give you one example that makes that statement false : when replacing a timing belt/water pump 96-01 Audi A4 1.8t 4cyl the entire front bumper and support must be removed in order to gain access to the timing belt and water pump. However this method is true for both FWD/AWD models. 99.5 to 2004 volkswagens have the same 1.8t engine but they are not longitudinally orientated the water pump and timing belt can be accessed fairly easy a lot less labor than the audi and the jetta is also available in FWD and AWD. Before someone contradicts the AWD jetta look up 4motion volkswagens. There are not alot in the states but they exist. Thanks for allowing me to throw inmy two cents in correcting generalized truths that are not true.
The propeller shaft seal goes bad and leaks coolant. There's a weep hole underneath the pump shaft where you can see the whitish tell tale signs of leaking from the shaft seal weep hole. Most pumps are not a do it yourself job because the timing belt might need to be replaced as well and you need special tools and procedures.
the corrosion is the main cause, corrosion is caused by using water coming by the faucet, that water came with some minerals and stuff and the engine at high temp activate those minerals and react causing that brown water (acid water) so the best way is adding a nice mixture of coolant and destilated water is the best but if you dont have that water at hand use some radiator coolant aditive, it will neutralize the effects of the regular water coming from the faucet making that will not make your water pump last forever but your whole system will last many more years
I would say you have another problem. The water pump just pumps the water through the engine to keep it cool. In a 96 model cherokee I would assume you have the 4.0l V6. I would check the engine control module for damage. If you remove the module you can test it at autozone or some other parts center for free.
on this particular model, the wires to the water pump relay short out by rubbing on the EGR mounting bracket. You can repair it w/ two small lengths of wire(16 gauge) and four crimped connectors. It will only take about a half hour. Good Luck!
