Screaming coolant pump

I have a 2005 that I purchased in May of of last year. It has approximately 10,500 miles on it. About two weeks ago I noticed a squealing noise coming from the engine compartment when I pushed the start button.
It went away after a few seconds. I went for a short ride to the store and it happened again when I shut it down. The noise sounded like a bearing squealing. Based on what I have read from the other posts this seems to following along the same line as others. I took the car in to be checked on Monday and the tech hooked up a controller to activate the pump manually and it didn't make the noise that I heard. Since it was occurring when it was a cold start we set up an appointment for me to leave the car overnight. I did make a digital recording in the engine compartment of the sound but the mechanic didn't have time to listen to the 15 second audio clip. Oh well, today is the day that we will see if it is the coolant transfer pump or something else.

 

To follow up on my previous post, my pump had to be replaced. All is well now with the normal sound of the pump versus the screaching. According to my dealership, Toyota is quite interested in the noisy pump. They wanted it shipped to them immediately.

 

Well, for the past week our 2006 has been screeching after shutting down the car (like a failing bearing as described above). It's going in on Wednesday to be checked out. I will update this thread with the results.

 

i think it was in the 40s (F) this morning when i drove to work, and i did hear a squeal on mine when i was walking away. that's the first i've heard of that kind of noise.

when it warmed up this afternoon and i took the car out to pick up lunch for the lab, no squeal. if it keeps up i'll have DH take it to work one morning.

 

Consensus seems to be that they sound pretty awful in cold weather,
but aren't actually failing. At least not right away. Since their
duty cycle is so small, they can probably scream their little heads
off for several years before actually needing replacement.
.
_H*

 

Our 05 has started screaming whining when shut down-all the time now- it is actually getting cooler here- 50 degrees so sounds like temp has somethig to do with it. Since it is at 30,000 I will make them look at the coolant transfer pump, when they do the checkup.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(inventor00 @ Dec 6 2006, 12:30 PM) [snapback]358442[/snapback]</div>

I just took my 2005 Prius in with obvious, classic, cheap bad motor bearing noises coming from the transfer pump. I have only 15,600 miles and there was no sign of the noise at my 15k maint. The weather is 20-35 deg F and the noise just started a few weeks ago, progressively getting worse. The dealer took the car for the day for technician diagnosis and reported back that a very unusual occurrence of failure of the pump bearings was likely the source of the noise but the bearings were not replaceable so the entire motor would have to be replaced (ya, right, as if the motor could have been more than a cheap 50-cent Mabuchi can motor with actual ball-bearings, what an idiot). I guess what raised my blood pressure was his statement that there were no motors available across the country and he would have to order direct from Japan, taking a week for delivery. I re-scheduled my appointment to have it replaced (under warranty of course). The Toyota technician actually had the nerve (or ignorance) to say I was an unlucky exception to an otherwise non-failing part. I suggested that since "none of these are available in the country" they start stocking a few of these, since Priuschat shows multiple occurrences of this failure...

 

I've have this problem with my transfer pump for over a year now.
The dealership says "they can't hear it". How convenient.
It either is obvious, or it doesn't happen at all.
It occurs only in cold weather, but I only notice it when it's transferring from the engine after I shut it down.
I think the dealer wants to wait until it actually fails before they replace it.
Oh well, it hasn't caused me grief yet.

------
2004 model

 

I took my '05 Prius for its 25k checkup, aka oil change, filter, 19 point inspection and tire rotation to Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh, NC today. I have had the squealing pump problem since early winter, long before we had cold temps in NC. After reading this thread, I told the service writer that the coolant transfer pump has a squeal and would like it replaced. I explained that this problem occured during warm and cold temps over the past 3k miles.

My buzzer sounded and I headed back to the service counter to check out. The writer had a technician - John - standing with him. John had checked on the noise and said it was NOT the coolant pump! On the service invoice: "Noise is fault of the low ambient temps with ABS actuator. Not coolant pump. Pressurized Fluid within the ABS pump at low temps will cause this. No performance issues, or DTC's are present."

I told John that I was convinced that the coolant transfer pump was the culprit because of information posted on Priuschats. He admitted he had heard similar comments from other customers, but that the coolant pump was not the problem. He had no explanation why I heard the squeal in warm temps as well as below 40 degree weather.

We agreed to disagree and I said that I would see him with my squeal on the first 60 degree day we have!

I'm not really happy with this and can't wait for the "100% satisfied phone call" so that I can express my unhappiness.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nctalkinghead @ Feb 16 2007, 05:16 PM) [snapback]391719[/snapback]</div>

You're unhappy because he discovered that you don't actually have a problem? Cut him some slack: he was there, unlike us kibbutzers, and probably has a better idea of what's going on. At least wait to see what happens in warmer weather.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Feb 17 2007, 02:37 AM) [snapback]391920[/snapback]</div>

As I said, I have already experienced the squeal in 70+ temps!