New water pump after 20K miles?

I took my Prius in today for the 20K mile service. They called me and said that they found a leak in the water pump, and thus they would have to keep my car overnight to replace it. Since it's under warranty and they gave me a RAV4 as a loaner, it's no big deal to me- but isn't it unusual for a Toyota water pump to go bad after 20K miles?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Jun 29 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]470267[/snapback]</div>

Mike,

Yes it is unusual and that's why warranties are a good thing. A working water pump is very important in a Prius as there are two separate cooling loops. The normal one for the engine (ICE) and a second one that mainly cools the "Inverter" (power electronics package to generate various voltages from the 200 volt traction battery). The inverter is an expensive part to replace.

JeffD

I would like to know which pump this is. The (mechanical) engine coolant pump is based on a cheap-looking impeller, but I have not heard of them leaking etc. At least one person suggests a precautionary replacement of this part (but long after 20k!). I guess there is another electrical pump serving the cabin heater, for when the engine is stopped. A few electrical inverter coolant pumps have failed, giving the software a chance to disable the inverters before they get too hot. The pump that transfers engine coolant to/from the thermos has not been completely trouble free.

So overall there seem to be 4 items that could be called water pumps. Is this correct?

Just 2 weeks ago I was doing an oil change and pre trip inspection on the wife's 2k4 and noticed pink residue on the bottom of the A/C pump and got the light and sure enough the water pump on the ICE has leaked. Not now but it has, so checked the level on the coolant recovery tank and it was ok. I put a black dot on the tank when we first bought the car, and as I'm the only one who's ever serviced it, I could see that if it leaked a lot it would be down but it wasn't. As we were going on holidays I bought a water pump and put it in the back of the car and a 4 liter jug of distilled water and as I always take tools with me made sure I had enough to change it on the side of the road if necessary. Home now and it still hasn't leaked anymore so I suspect that it won't now I have a water pump on hand. Same water pump as on the Yaris Echo and G1 and G2 Prius. I'd love to know what the flat rate is for changing it, I figured that I could do a road side change in about 15 minutes.

I haven't picked up my car yet, but I talked to the service dept. and it was in fact the water pump for the ICE. They agreed that it was unusual for one to go after 20K miles, but they have replaced a few of them at similar intervals.

it's really easy to check all you need is a flashlight and shine it on the inside of the pulley, if it's black and shiny no problem, if it has a gray/pinkish tinge to it, it's leaked.

it's uncommon, yes, but not unheard of. DH has done a couple on the echos. no need for 99.9% of us to get worked up about, but a possibility.

btw, that's a great dealership that picked that out for you and did it right away. they usually will wait for a customer complaint about the issue to do anything about it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ Jun 30 2007, 12:40 PM) [snapback]470626[/snapback]</div>

I'm not so sure how "uncommon" it is. My friends 06 just started leaking. 23K miles.

It's uncommon for water pumps in general to leak at this milage. But I would suggest that this particular pump on our cars does in fact have a higher than normal failure rate.

Keeping an eye on mine. (30k)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(WFO @ Aug 31 2007, 04:22 AM) [snapback]504799[/snapback]</div>

On what data are you basing that assertion?

Only the OP and one other member (Frank Hudon) posted regarding a problem; we know that Frank's was not a "failure", and the OP's may not have been either. My search of the site showed one other post regarding a water pump issue, this on a site with 28K+ members. Including your friend, we are at four, and still without any confirmed failures.

I'm not trying to be confrontational, but statements such as yours should be supported.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Jun 29 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]470267[/snapback]</div>

Not commenting on the water pump issue, just that its good to know that a dealership would give you a loaner, while they are fixing your car. Is this common? Is it just when warranty work has to be done? I was already impressed when they informed me that they have a shuttle service for people to be taken back home and then returned to pick up their car. Unfortunately, I live too far off their shuttle route.

Since the dealer says I have a water pump seepage issue, I'd love to know where in the vehicle I would see this pulley/ water pump. I'd like to check for that pinkish tinge. Thanks.

The right side of the attached photo provides a partial view of the water pump pulley on my 2001, from under the car when the passenger-side engine under cover is removed. The left pulley is the crankshaft pulley. 2G is similar but not the same since the 2G A/C compressor is not belt-driven.

When the hood is raised and you look down between the passenger-side fender and the engine, you may be able to see the water pump pulley. This may not be easy for you to find, hence in a separate string I suggested you ask the service writer or tech to show you evidence of the leak.

Looks like my 2007 is going to need an ICE water pump at 30K. Note the pink in the pulley:

I agree. Good that it is covered under warranty.

Sorry to be resurrecting an old thread, but today Fiona had her water pump replaced under warranty at 19K miles. I had seen a funny spot on my garage floor, but forgot to mention it to the service department. They found the leak & replaced the pump for me.

They have also ordered the part to replace the other coolant thermos pump because of excessive noisy screeching, I handed them the TSB on that when I took her in - thanks Galaxee and DH!

My water pump is leaking at 45k (my thread above should read water pump, not oil pump) unfortunately I'm out of bumper-to-bumper warranty...does anyone know if this would be covered under the powertrain warranty?

If not I will attempt to get them to cover it out of warranty...

SW, that should be covered under the 5/60 warranty.

Just another data point: My water pump gave out at 45K miles, three months after the expiration of the powertrain warranty. The first indicator I had was some rattling near the belt assembly. The second symptom was loss of cabin heat. The third symptom was intermittent master warning indicator flashes at a very intermittent basis. Finally, the red triangle of death stayed on, and eventually a water temperature icon appeared on the MFD.

It's not an inexpensive job--$450, so it would be time well spent to check for leakage prior to expiration of your powertrain warranty. I watched the shop foreman change it out, and it took him a good three hours with an occasional helper to do the swap. So it's not an easy do-it-yourselfer.

Last August, @ 65,000 kms (40,300 mi), the tech at my dealer noted some leakage around the water pump and advised monitoring it. Today @70,000 km (43,000 mi) the pump was replaced. It took about 2 hrs. for the work to be completed. The repair was covered by the 5 yr./100,000 km warranty.

One more water pump failure. 57K miles, but 3 months out of 5yr warranty. Brought it in because of rattle/gurgle noise when accelerating from a stop and dealer is replacing the pump right now.