Water Pump Input

Getting the motor rebuilt and while the water pump does not appear to be having any issues, my sense is to replace it while doing things. However, with everything coming from China these days, and their crappy quality control, what has been y'all's experiences? Talked to Carl at Walcks today, and he said his does come from China but no name associated with it. I doubt my existing one is original. It has a regular metal pully and not the cast style Carl sells.

 

I'd get one from the auto parts store. Easy enough to replace if it fails but I'd try to limit the chances of failure by avoiding anything from omix-ada. In any case, yes, I'd put a new one on it.

 

Anyone know if the CJ5 originally came with a cast pully?

 

I've parted more than a few cj5s, including (2) '55s and a '56 and I have never seen a cast pulley on one. All stamped in my experience. Can't speak for the possibility of the M38A1 having a cast pulley.

 

I might be alone in this, but I say don't fix what's not broken. (I'm sure I will after I say this, but) I've never had a water pump fail me on an f-head. And judging by what I've seen out of China lately, I'd trust anything old and iron over new and Chinese.

 

Do you need one with two belts or just one belt on it? One of my motors has a water pump with one belt and the other has a water pump with two belts on it.

 

Good point, ITLKSEZ. I'll agree with that completely. I would be sure to check the origin of the replacement. I often search pay for NOS parts though a water pump may no be common there.

Does anyone know if the originals can be serviced and if so, is it a difficult task?

 

Mines a single belt. Walcks only has the cast pully ones.

 

Back in the day, Jeepers would carry a spare water pump on the trail. Replace it and put the old one in a plastic bag to carry with you as a spare.

How much does Carl want for a pump? RockAuto shows both an Airtex and Cardone for $40 and $50 resp. Airtex is a good brand ... More Information for AIRTEX AW52

 

I bought a new water pump for my 134 fhead and it failed. took it back and exchanged for another new one that failed, and out of frustration I put the old one back on. I only replaced it because I was looking for stuff to update on my old friend.
now, its a fix as it breaks style of ownership for me.

 

i don't recall specifics either. but I did change the head gasket twice. I remember that well....

 

Jeep Willys M38 M38A1 Double pulley water pump NEW US Made 945142 | eBay

 

Nice pulley and nice price!

 

And he has both a single and double groove pully.

 

Back in the day, you used to could get a kit to put new bearings and seals in a water pump yourself. I've done a couple old Chevy I-6 ones back then. But then you could also get kits for generators, alternators and starters too back then. I preferred doing that over just replacing the whole assembly.

 

X2. This is your solution. 1/4 ton military has had these for awhile. The quality control on the import water pumps is poor.

The double pulley is nice- on my A1, I use two fan belts for the alternator- don't have to carry a spare. If you ever wanted to hook up a PS, plow or anything else, you are already set with an extra pulley.

I believe the M38A1 came with a double pulley because of the huge generator they had- two belts were required to reliably keep it spinning.

On a sidenote, a couple plus years ago, I ran some citric acid thru the cooling system to clean out any rust- a preventive thing as the Fhead has not lost a drop of coolant in 7 years- with one exception (yeah, the antifreeze has been changed out a couple times). The citric acid worked, but the water pump did develop a slight leak. Thought I'd have to replace it but the leak stopped on its own after awhile and hasn't leaked or given any sign of failing since- it's probably gone 5000 miles since then. Not sure what to attribute that to. I'm pretty sure it's the original pump.

 

About half as much on RocAuto. Same stuff at all the outlets now. If there is a specific store that you like to support then that is admirable but everyone is selling the same stuff from the same place now. It just costs twice as much from the "Jeep" stores. Many times the Crown or Omix stuff is what is being sold at the "Jeep" stores so you are getting half the quality at twice the price.