Water pumping issues

Ok first off i explain myself. My head cracked and it had to be replaced, so i bought a reman head and followed the instructions from the manual and from the forums. After completing the process of taking everything apart and then putting it back together I started the engine up and it ran perfect except my water wasn't pumping into the head. I took the water pump off and there was fluid going from the radiator to the pump. So i know it's not clogged in the hose atleast and the pump seems to work fine. I put a little bit of water in the head to see if it drained down to the block and it did, so I don't see why it won't pump it up into the head...

All in all I took everything apart as instructed and put back together in reverse. The head is correct model (7120) and i also bought a new water pump for the hell of it while I had the stuff apart (the exact same pump as the old one). Soooo close to driving my jeep again, yet so far away =(

I have a 93 jeep Cherokee, straight 6, 4.0

Please give me some ideas about what I should check or look back at that i may not have done right.

Zach, drill a small hole in the top of the tstat flange. This will allow air to escape. And if you would, please fill out your vehicle info so we know what you have

would it be okay running it without the tstat in the housing?

You can do it, but it better for your milage to have a tstat in.

Not enough coolant and an airpocket is a possibility.

Do you get flow from the heater hose connection at the thermostat housing ?


No t'stat is OK for a short test ... or a, get you home, trail fix.


@ 4.3LXJ ... or anybody

... is there any headgasket/water gallery variations between models ??

As far as I can tell, same gasket for all years, so I am guessing no differences.

I have it topped to the cap with coolant and i have no flow to the housing it is completely dry. If i try it without the tstat and it fixes the problem then does that mean my tsat is wrong or what? Also if it is an airpocket where would it be? i have fluid going straight to the pump and into the block, just not to the head.

my heater core is broke so I just have a loop in those hoses

In that case, a small hole in the flange of the tstat will fix it. I have one in mine. Just make sure it is small.

before I do that i'm going to try one more thing. I'm going to put water from the top radiator hose through the housing to the head so it has liquid on both sides of the water pump without the tsat on there to get rid of any air pockets. Then I be able to have the tstat on there correctly don't you think? Thanks so far, you've been some great help. i'll let you know how it goes.

alright well i put it in without the tstat and the whole thing is running great and pumping water now. I found the problem after i was able to make sure water was pumping through, the radiator is leaking. Thank you very much for your help