Dealer Service Attempted Con

It's interesting that there seems to be a rash of this same thing lately. I've read at least half a dozen posts in the last few weeks where people going in for the inverter pump recall are being told they need the engine coolant pump replaced too. Most say they noticed no leaks or coolant loss yet still pay over $500 to have it fixed.

 

I don't understand why those individuals apparently did not make any effort to verify that the engine coolant pump was bad, prior to authorizing that repair. All that is necessary is to look at it, to see whether a pinkish antifreeze stain is coming from the bearing.

 

I think the engine water pump replacement is one of the easiest things for a service advisor to sell, easier than air filters and fuel injection cleaning. Nobody wants to be stranded by a catastrophic water pump failure. Water pumps give out before other parts of the engine, usually. A persuasive service advisor can make the repair sound plausible on any car with over 50,000 miles. Most Prius owners have not had to pay for anything other than scheduled maintenance, so they are not surprised when their car finally has a "problem." Another part that is troublesome is how service departments come up with quotes for $500 - $600 or more. Max cost on parts is $150. Repair time is under 2 hours. Another PC user just reported spending $313 to get it done. $300 is about the minimum. $400 is a stretch, $500+ is a ripoff. But it is unusual for any Prius with less than 100,000 miles to need a new one.

The hallmark of this type of engine water pump being faulty is a very, very gradual coolant loss over time as it weeps past the seal. The loss is so slow that there may never be a single drip in one's parking place or garage. The only evidence will be coolant levels that decline very gradually, and pink crusties on the water pump at the weep hole.

 

The beauty of traditional mechanical engine coolant pumps is that the failure typically will not be catastrophic. There's plenty of notice when the pump starts to fail.

1) the antifreeze stain at the pump, as previously mentioned
2) the level in the coolant recovery tank will start to drop when the problem starts to become serious

Although the pump bearing might be leaky, the pump still works.

Compare to an electric coolant pump, where one day it is working fine and the next it is dead. That would be a catastrophic failure.

 

...all this makes me happy that the dealer I went to only suggested to change the engine coolant, "or you could wait another 10K miles or so, until it is suggested in the book", when I got the inverter pump recall done.

We decided that, since the Prius probably won't be seeing the dealer again for another 50K, no need to wait, and got the coolant changed. Nothing wrong with the pump.