60,00 mile service. New water pump? suspicious. Under extended warranty?

[harper42]

Took Prius in for 60,000 mile servicing. Was told that the necessary and the recommended servicing would be over 400 dollars. I asked them to do only the necessary - oil change, tire rotation. They discovered seepage around the water pump. I need new water pump. Cost 400 dollars. And it just happens that my standard guarantee only covers 5 years or 50,000 miles. Just sounds suspicious, since I declined 400 dollars of work. What do you think?

Also, I did buy an extended warranty. Should that cover my water pump work? I looked at warranty but could find nothing.... maybe I read it thru too quickly. Maybe one of you experts would know. You're always so good to help.

Thanks. Sharon

[richard schumacher]

Get a 2nd opinion at another Toyota dealer. But water pumps *do* fail, sometimes. Whether your extended warranty covers this depends on that warranty.

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Sharon,

Suggest that you ask to be shown the water pump seepage. If it is leaking you should be able to see a reddish or pinkish powder residue where the leak is occurring.

If you have the Toyota extended warranty then this repair should be covered.

[Ct. Ken V]

Hi, Sharon,

If your extended warranty happens to NOT be the official Toyota Financial Services one (in other words a 3rd party one that may have a lot of loopholes so that it won't cover the water pump), your factory warranty for the drive train is 5 yrs/60,000 miles (not the 50,000 you stated), so it should be evident (if the dealer isn't lying to you) that the seepage/leaking started before the 60,000 miles, so it should be covered under the factory warranty. However, the thing I'm not sure about here is if the water pump is considered part of the engine to them (I think it is).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[harper42]

Originally Posted by Ct. Ken V

Hi, Sharon,

If your extended warranty happens to NOT be the official Toyota Financial Services one (in other words a 3rd party one that may have a lot of loopholes so that it won't cover the water pump), your factory warranty for the drive train is 5 yrs/60,000 miles (not the 50,000 you stated), so it should be evident (if the dealer isn't lying to you) that the seepage/leaking started before the 60,000 miles, so it should be covered under the factory warranty. However, the thing I'm not sure about here is if the water pump is considered part of the engine to them (I think it is).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

TRouble is, I was a little late, like 60,300 getting it in; so if they wanted to be technical about it, it probably would have expired anyway. But I do have the extended warranty, bought from the dealer at the time of purchase, so I hope it is covered. Is seepage around the water pump a typical thing? Is the only repair total replacement of the pump? Not just gaskets or seals or something like that?

[spitinuri]

At this age of the vehicle. If you have to take the water pump off it is better to replace.

[hobbit]

A little weep around the shaft seal of the mechanical, engine-driven
water pump is *not* a problem. It can happen under higher pressure
when things get hot, and will fling a very thin line of pinkish
crust up onto the hood liner. But if you're not actually losing
coolant at any visible rate, it's not a problem as the volume
is very low and occurrence infrequent.
.
My car's been doing it every since I got it.
.
Backing off belt tension a little bit may also help.
.
_H*

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by hobbit

A little weep around the shaft seal of the mechanical, engine-driven water pump is *not* a problem. It can happen under higher pressure when things get hot, and will fling a very thin line of pinkish crust up onto the hood liner. But if you're not actually losing
coolant at any visible rate, it's not a problem as the volume is very low and occurrence infrequent.

I disagree with Hobbit on this point. If the leak is sufficient to fling coolant on the hood, then the pump should be replaced.

In the case of the OP who apparently has extended warranty coverage, there should be no question about replacing the water pump now.

[jelloslug]

The water pump is only about $50 from Toyota and I replaced the damaged one on my salvage car in about an hour.