Could it be the waterpump?

VortecJeep

VortecJeep

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Joined
Aug 24, 2005
Location
Concord, NC
2002 Grand Cherokee, 4.0, 4WD, 177,000 miles.

Wife's Grand Cherokee has started making a noise that sounds kind of like metal on metal scraping. It seems to be random; I've heard it when I turn left, I've heard it when I turn right, and I've heard it when going in a straight line. Does not do it all the time.
I don't know if it is related, but when I get out of it after driving, I can smell something, maybe a touch of antifreeze, but no visible leaks. I installed a new radiator last fall.

Could this noise be the water pump getting ready to go out????
 
Yes it could be. Best way I know to check it out is to pull the belt, and go to each individual pulley and rock them back and forth, and side to side. To me my first thought would be water pump or tensioner pulley.
 
X2 My zj did same thing when both water pump and tension pulley went bad...
 
It was the waterpump. Once I took the shroud and fan out, I turned the pump by hand and you could feel the bearings grinding. Replaced the waterpump. Maybe I am imagining things, but things sound different now than they did before the pump went bad. The impellers look different, maybe that is it?
 
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