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Is it necessary to replace ICE water/coolant pump?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SRQ, Aug 24, 2021.

  1. SRQ

    SRQ Member

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    I'm going to be replacing the thermostat & ICE coolant soon on a vehicle with 230k miles; is it even worth replacing the coolant pump if there are no issues with it? I took at look at it and it looks like there are little to no potential points of failure; it's just a metal circle with triangular spikes driven by the belt.
     
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Those will eventually succumb to wear of the shaft seal or the bearing (or the shaft seal and the bearing, once the seal starts allowing coolant to leak out past the bearing). Some crust of dried pink coolant around the shaft may be the first sign, followed by louder noise you can confirm the source of with a stethoscope. If you're attentive to those kinds of things, you can wait to replace it until you notice them. If you overlook any leaking and noise long enough, it may eventually seize, causing the belt to fail and the engine to overheat.
     
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    If it ain't broke... Then don't fix it.
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    The ICE coolant is on a different loop than the inverter pump coolant. So you really don't need to touch the inverter coolant pump, it's a completely different loop
     
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If OP is talking about a pump driven by a belt, I take that to be the engine coolant pump.
     
  6. Colorado Boo

    Colorado Boo Active Member

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    I think it depends! Some things do fall into the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and some things fall into the "it's getting old and should be replaced" Personally, I replace older things if they aren't too expensive (example is radiator caps...they get replaced at 5 years, they are cheap) But alternators and such are in the first list, for sure.
    One thing that's switched lists, in our hybrids, is the 12-volt battery. In the ICE cars, it's just keep until dead but I'll be replacing mine at 5 or 6 years, no matter what....way too many horror stories of hybrids going all wacky when the battery is going out.
     
  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Depends on your taste in stories. My experience with Prii and 12-volt batteries has always been that, if it gets low enough you notice the brake pump sound like a dying windup toy or the dome light glowing dull orange, you might get a no-start situation and need a jump. When you do that and it starts up, you may have a few trouble codes stored that tell you the voltage got low—as in, that's literally what they mean, and they got correctly set. Some other members here with a practical streak have observed the same.

    The "explain all wacky behavior with the 12 volt battery" stories are a popular genre around here, for sure. They have kind of a self-supporting quality; once somebody has reached for that stock explanation, they typically don't show much interest in looking further at what their "wacky behavior" might have been about.
     
  8. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Oh yes, engine water pump. In this case, since the coolant is already going to be drained, investing a little time and under $100 to replace the pump and belt, is a sound recommendation.
     
    M in KC likes this.