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  1. Suzazoom

    Suzazoom Junior Member

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    I'm trying to figure out if the water pump of a 2007 toyota prius I bought last week with 87 k needed to be replaced. Before I bought the car I had a dealer inspect the whole car for $105 and they did not mention it. Today I took the car to a different dealer to fix the first dealers' recommendations, and this dealer showed me a little pink crusting using a small mirror that is on the bottom of the pump and said it had been leaking a long time, and the pump needed to be replaced for $499. He also pointed out there was no coolant left. I had him put some coolant in the tank. I became very upset and went back to the dealer who inspected it, telling I would have have bought the car for the price I did knowing it needed $499 more work and what did I pay him $105 for any way? He looked at the pump, felt under the pump and said he did not feel any liquid from it leaking and that a little pink crustation was in the normal range and it did not need to be replaced. He said if the color of the crustation was light pink, it was not a problem and would not be a problem until it was a darker color and took more space on the tank. He said there was not any coolant in the tank as the car was 9 years old and it had evaporated. REading the last post from Patrick Wong saying a pink coolant stain means that the pump bearing is bad.
     
  2. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Unfortunately there are people that will say anything and make up any excuse to try to satisfy a disgruntled customer without actually doing the right thing, which is to admit guilt and issue a refund. Yes, you do need a new water pump. Shop around on price, however. An independent shop that specializes in Toyota might be $100 or more cheaper. This is one of the more common reasons for a Gen II to appear in a shop these days.

    [QUOTE="Suzazoom, post: 2326816, member: 136099"He looked at the pump, felt under the pump and said he did not feel any liquid from it leaking and that a little pink crustation was in the normal range and it did not need to be replaced. He said if the color of the crustation was light pink, it was not a problem and would not be a problem until it was a darker color and took more space on the tank. He said there was not any coolant in the tank as the car was 9 years old and it had evaporated. [/QUOTE]
     
  3. Suzazoom

    Suzazoom Junior Member

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    3 days ago just as I was getting ready to sell my 2008 Toyota Prius the check engine light went on. I went to a mechanic recommended by my local O Reilly's who charged me $200 to figure out what the P2601 code meant. He said there were 15 to 25 subcodes and it would take him 2 days to figure out exactly the problem. the next day he called to say the coolant heat storage tank/pump was bad as well as the serpentine belt and it would cost $2200 to repair. I told him I would just pay the $200 for the diagnose fee. He said he would take the $200 off if I had it repaired by him. He said the collant heat storage tank/pump cost $1472.96. I said I would look into putting a used one in if a new one cost that much as I just want to sell the car. He said he would not advise a used one since they break down so much.
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    definitely get used. A Toyota dealer would've figured out your problem for about $120, the 1 hour labor rate. I wonder if this item is covered by the hybrid warranty of 8 years
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    That is bogus advice. Usually the only time the CHRS canister needs to be replaced is when it gets hit as a result of an accident impacting the driver's side front fender.
     
  6. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Many Gen2's had leaking water pump around 80000 miles. I believe replacement is the best practice, and that is what most owners did (many under extended warranty if they had bought one). However, I refilled my radiator with the needed special Toyota pink coolant and the leak had stopped. I am at 150000 now.
     
  7. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    I purchased a new water pump about 2 1/2 years (and 23,000 miles) ago because my dealer told me that mine was leaking and needed to be replaced. The belt was also described as "on its last legs".

    It's still sitting on the shelf in my garage. Just topped off the coolant with another 4 ounces.
     
  8. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    Missing the fact that the coolant reservoir was empty sounds like a bad mistake. Sure, everyone makes them, but shouldn't lie to cover them up. It should never be empty. You have a good case for a refund for the inspection.

    If the reservoir did become empty, you may have another problem with air in the cooling system. Bleeding air out of the system is a relatively involved process requiring special tools and skills. One symptom of air in the system would be little or no heat in the cabin. More severe coolant loss will lead to overheating the engine.

    If you get the water pump replaced, be sure the mechanic is able to correctly bleed the Prius coolant system--it's way different than most cars. And keep an eye on the coolant level for a week or so afterwards, to make sure they got it right.
     
  9. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    It is disturbing to believe a PPI would miss an empty coolant tank.

    This doesn't seem normal...even an owner can see this tank is empty.
    A mechanic missing this...disturbing.
     
  10. Suzazoom

    Suzazoom Junior Member

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    Thank you very much for the feedback! I will get a used one.

    thanks for letting me know.

    So you did not replace the water pump, you just added special Toyota pink coolant? That is interesting that took care of your problem. I had the dealer do that when they told me the resevoir was empty. I will get the pump replaced though.

    Thank you for telling me that. I definitely would not figure this out on my own.

    pretty amazing you have not had any problems with the belt on it's last legs and the dealer saying the water pump needed to be replaced. that must be a very slow leak.

    20160408_190919[1].jpg 20160408_190858[1].jpg
    4-7-16 update for this car. I did not use the mechanic who diagnosed the problem as he was telling me how lucky I was he would even work on a prius and that he bought $15,000 worth of equipment to work on cars like mine so I should feel lucky he was only charging me $389 in addition to the $200 diagnositic fee and because he sounded doubtful the repair would work.
    I was able to finally get ahold of a mechanic who specializes in Prius repair and rebuild in my area after calling him a month about another problem but he had been too busy to respond. He agreed to repair the car, (which is a rebuilt car) and was very upset to see the condition of the inverter pump. It turns out it is kind of a miracle it worked well the last 33, 000 miles I have driven the car. It was welded to the frame of the car , no brackets, only some crazy wired attached. the photo does not really show how bad it was. Fortunately he was able to repair the car, did not charge me full price and the car is running like a champ once more. 20160408_190919[1].jpg 20160408_190858[1].jpg
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Holy Crap! The things we see on this site!!
     
  12. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    It doesn't matter to the result, but that's the coolant heat recovery system pump and tank, not the inverter pump. Those are hidden from casual inspection by body parts, so at least it's understandable that a vehicle inspector could miss that.
     
  13. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    This is one example why I think buying a salvage vehicle is a really bad idea if you have no idea how the vehicle was repaired. Who wants to guess whether for example, working airbags are still present in the OPs car - or if instead resistors were inserted to make the SRS ECU think that airbags are present.
     
    edthefox5 likes this.
  14. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Good point Pat......the horrors....worst car ever to buy salvage.
     
  15. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    +1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

    For those who do not remember the OP's initial saga/nightmare, here's a refresher.
    check engine light, PO 301 Cylinder Misfire code | PriusChat It does have a happy ending, but avoidance would have been best.