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Possible bearing Noise?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by shaneprius2005, May 17, 2012.

  1. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    My 2005 Prius sounds louder to me than normal. The car has 117,000 miles on it and is in great condition. Anyways I can hear, maybe, on the gas engine what sounds like a bad water pump or tension pulley, not sure though? I checked the water pump area and there is no visible signs of a leak or dried pink coolant. If the water pump is indeed bad what can I expect at the Toyota dealership cost wise? Any help is appropriated. Thank you. :)
     
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    While rolling down the road put the car in neutral and listen. In neutral the engine will shut off. If the noise goes away its the engine. If not its suspension or wheel bearing (pretty common) or transmission (hope not).

    How has it been maintained? What have you changed & when?
     
  3. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    A water pump job is $300-$400. It could be the idler pulley as well. It is straight-forward to loosen the belt in order to turn the idler pulley and water pump pulley by hand. That would be a clear indication of which is bad.

    But do Ed's test first, because that is the easiest.
     
  4. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    Thanks guys for the suggestions. I can clearly here it when the car first starts up sitting in the driveway. Yesterday I popped the hood and it defintley sounds like it's coming from the water pump area. I will try dropping the belt and checking the pulleys. As I mentioned before there is no leaking or dried coolant around the water pump. The car has been maintained since new. I have all the service records. Also all recalls have been completed.
     
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Oh thats good its only the pump. At 117K your due anyway. Make sure you replace the pump and the idler and new belt. Would be a pain to have to go back in and do something that's missed.

    And since you have the SLLC out replace the INverter coolant too. thats easy and cheap.
     
  6. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    So tomorrow when I have more time I am going to take the belt off and spin the pulleys to see if I hear a bad bearing. I am really thinking that if it is the water pump I may do the work myself. So as a check list what tools will I need. Seems pretty straight forward and it should save me a few hundred instead of using the dealership. I just changed the oil yesterday and that was very easy. So any help in this area or a link would be helpful. Thanks guys :)
     
  7. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    If you just want to fix the immediate problem, it is not too hard. If you want to do a complete cooling system empty and refill, then it is quite a bit more involved. The easy way, just drain the radiator, and make somewhat of a mess and pull off the water pump. Getting the pulley off is a PITA if you don't have a holding tool, so it helps to tighten the best and hold the crank in that case.

    The harder way: By draining the coolant heat storage reservoir on the front corner driver's side, you then have the problem of getting fresh coolant into it before you start the car. That means that you either have to us a scan tool to operate the pump, or operate it manually with a 12V battery and jumpers. It definitely adds to the hassle of bleeding the system, which is about as difficult as they come.

    If you have an AirLift handy, use it.
     
  8. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    Thank you seilerts that was the info I needed. The system was recently drained and flushed so I will do the radiator drain and water pump only. I will be pulling off the belt later today to see what is making the noise. You mentioned loosening something, but the word was spelled wrong, I am assuming you were referring to the belt. I don't have the tool so I will use this trick if the water pump is bad. Thanks again. I'll let you know how I make out. This is the first repair item I've had to do since recently buying the car, hopefully it stay that way for a long while.
     
  9. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    Well I was able to test the water pump and it is indeed bad. I didn't take the belt all the way off, and I was able to spin the water pump pulley and it wobbles. After I tightened the bolt I started the car and used a hammer against the pump and can clearly hear the bearing. So how long can I drive with a bad pump? I have to work tomorrow and need the car. I might just need to have the dealership do the job as I am not sure I can get the pulley off successfully. Any help is appropriated.
     
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  10. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Regarding removal of the water pump pulley, I suggest that you try loosening the pulley bolts before removing the serpentine belt. The belt may provide sufficient friction to hold the pulley in place so that the bolts can be removed.

    If you don't see the water pump leaking profusely then you can continue to drive the car for a short time, while you figure out whether you can do the job yourself or seek professional assistance.
     
  11. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    Thank you Patrick. So I am wondering why would the pump be bad if it's not leaking? Do bearings go sometimes without a leak? as I stated above it is definitely the pump no question there. The sound is very easy to hear both with the hammer trick I used and without. It is a grinding noise. Good to know I can drive it for a few more days until I decide what to do.
     
  12. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    OK so I slept on and have decided tomorrow I will try to remove the water pump myself. So here is what I plan to do, if I am wrong please give me a correction thanks.
    At the dealership I plan to buy the following.
    1.water pump
    2. serpentine belt
    3. one container of anti-freeeze long life
    4. Toyota's special pulley removal tool.
    ************
    Remove the air filter hose, then find the radiator drain cock, which I still not sure where that is, and then drain. Remove the water pump pulley, 3 bolts it looks like, remove the water pump, then serpentine belt. Put in new water pump and reinstall pulley and belt, then fill radiator, run car with heat on to circulate system. Listen for noises and test drive, recheck coolant level. OK so anything I've left out? Thanks :)
     
  13. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    The SPX special tool is almost $500 and they'd probably have to order it. Consider instead purchasing OTC 6613. Or, like I said before, and Patrick has said this elsewhere too, tighten the serpentine belt and hold the crank pulley, in order to break loose the bolts on the water pump pulley. It is also helpful to remove the passenger side wheel.

    If Conicelli is near by, then you can order online to get parts at cost and save 10%:

    Conicelli Parts Center
     
  14. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Bearings and seals are often separate devices. It is not unreasonable to imagine a failing bearing while the seal remains intact.

    Tom
     
  15. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    Seilerts thanks for the tips. I'll try the tightening belt method to see how that works. Also would box wrenches be easier to use than a socket wrench? I tried to remove the tension pulley with a socket wrench and could not get it to budge. I may need to invest in a cheap set of box wrenches. Is removing the tension pulley necessary or can I just keep in on there?
     
  16. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If you plan to fully drain the engine coolant system including the CHRS canister then you will need two gallons of Toyota SLLC when refilling. Measure the amount of drained fluid so that you will know how much new fluid must be added before you can declare victory over this project. Plan to spend a few hours on this.

    When running the engine it will be helpful to put the car into inspection mode so that the engine will run continuously. If this mode is unfamiliar to you pls do a search.

    After putting the car into inspection mode you should rev the engine repeatedly while adding coolant and squeezing the top radiator hose to encourage air to vent. The heater should be set to MAX HEAT with the vent fan running, so that coolant can flow through the heater core. If you hear air bubbling in the heater core you need to continue working on getting air out.

    Don't forget to open the vent on top of the radiator to let air out. I believe you need a 6 mm Allen hex key wrench to open that.

    You will also need to run the CHRS pump to get fluid into the CHRS canister, I have previously posted how to short the CHRS relay switched terminals to get the pump to run.
     
  17. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    Patrick Wong, thank you for the tips! I am planning to only drain the radiator. The system was recently flushed. I also bookmarked some info about getting the motor to continually run. I am confident I can complete the work. Now I am just hoping the local dealership has all the needed parts Ha. I plan to call them first before I drive the 20 miles. Thanks again to all of you for the help you've given me. I'll update my progress tomorrow. My wife says to me yesterday see what happens when buy a car with 117,000 miles I just laughed and said hon that's nothing on a car today.
     
  18. shaneprius2005

    shaneprius2005 New Member

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    How many bolts hold the pulley over the water pump assembly?
     
  19. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    3 bolts. Tightening torque is 11 ft.-lb.