2016 Prius ICE Water Pump Replacement

Have a look at the attached. A very quick read, I didn't see anything special though.

 

Simple, according to what Mendel Leisk posted; all you have to do is pull the engine (see the last step). Definitely not something this diy person could handle, but I realized my limitations years ago.

 

That makes me sort of glad I'm not driving a Gen 4.

 

Oh hell yes; can they be serious...

Maybe this:

Help... 2017 Prius electric water pump removal | PriusChat

 

This is, perhaps, a lesson about the risk of relying on out-of-date copies of the Repair Manual (more info), or conversely, the benefit of Toyota’s continuous revision system.

Some time after the version @Mendel Leisk kindly shared was published, the procedure was changed. The engine assembly with transaxle now remains in the vehicle but is lowered 50 mm and supported by a jack and wooden block, after which the engine water pump assembly can be removed in a specific way.

This change reduced the Flat Rate Manual labor time for WATER PUMP ASSEMBLY AND/OR GASKET, R&R (operation 161011, ZVW50 series) from 7.0 hours to 1.3 hours.

Kaizen in action!

 

THAT IS VERY GOOD NEWS!! And a lesson learned! Thanks for sharing correct information!

 

Kaizen would be to eliminate the paywall for registered owners.

Can you give any hints about the “specific way”?

 

Belabouring I know, but:

seems more like a bunch of very green engineers, with no none keeping an eye on them, coupled with a woeful lack of editorial review. Probably what woke them up was protest from dealership mechanics.

 

Maybe they should credit 3prongpaul for that!

 

I’d strongly recommend that anyone doing this use the actual manual with Toyota’s cautions and illustrations.

In the revised removal procedure, after removing certain other components, lowering the engine assembly with transaxle, and applying protective tape, the technician moves the engine water pump assembly “to the right side of the vehicle,” “toward the bottom of the vehicle until the shaft of the engine water pump assembly is free,” and then “toward the front of the vehicle,” after which the assembly can be removed “from the top of the vehicle.”

I’d imagine it may have been warranty claims, for which Toyota pays for both parts and labor, rather than complaints from dealers, that drove the change in procedure. Perhaps there was a run of defective water pumps, or their failure rate was greater than anticipated—but this is just speculation.

 

need to implement any possibility or hopefully maintenance to avoid, any ideas besides flushing the coolant more often than 100k miles?

 

Well disconnecting an engine mount and letting the engine slump down, is a lot less egregious, then “remove engine/transaxle”. Honda timing belt replacement required similar.

 

That’s it in a nutshell. For the little effort required and minimal cost (especially diy) every 50k (with strip testing every 6 months) seems like extremely cheap insurance.

 

When I worked on tractors in the '90s there was a twin cylinder liquid cooled Honda ride on tractor that needed a starter. The bolts that hold the starter in were inserted from behind the flywheel and threaded into the starter. This obviously requires pulling the engine and the flywheel just to change a starter motor. I was determined at that point to figure out why it was Japan had it in for us