I have a '97 jeep grand cherokee with 5.2L / 318. There is a squeek/squeal when at start-up and then intermittently at low rpm (<1k rpm). I have also noticed the temperature gauge creeps up higher than 210 for a few minutes sometimes.. It used to stay at exactly 210 very consistently.

I'm guessing my water pump is bad or about to die. Does this sound like a good diagnosis? Or is there anything else I can check before replaceing the water pump?

1/31/2006 6:31:30 PM

coolant level? start with the free shit man.

1/31/2006 6:33:01 PM

I'm curious as to what your drive belt looks like. It's really rare for a water pump to make that kind of noise, as the bearings are usually lubricated somewhat by coolant if the seal goes bad. They usually make more of a scraping sound.

Like Joel says, check the easy shit first. See if you have enough coolant. Is there any leaking from around the water pump? That's one of the first symptoms of a pump going bad...they have weep holes that leak a little when the seal and bearings go bad.

Oh, BTW, engine is coming along, albeit slowly. Found out that the machine shop installed the cam plug backwards, so I had to knock it out, and I've got to get a new one. I don't reuse them after knocking them out; too much chance they're bent in a way that ends up leaking or popping the plug out under pressure. They're cheap as hell, though. I haven't had time to take the heads apart.

1/31/2006 6:47:11 PM

it's completely normal for a 318 of that vintage to register 210, especially at idle and especially crammed into a GC. switch out to a 180 t-stat, i guarantee that'll fix your issue. it also helps with pre detonation that's so common in the magnum v8's.

1/31/2006 7:42:30 PM