Water pump, prevenative or wait for codes?

They're so easy to change... Having one at the ready if it fails is wise... Replacing it before it fails is just a waste of time and money. The exception being if you bought a used Gen3 with 200K miles and you were fixing it up as the new owner.

 

I had a similar problem at 165k miles. Scangauge showed a couple of over 200F events but didn't last long. Car was diveable for awhile until it eventually died on the xway. After cooling down I was able to get it to the dealer where they diagnosed a bad water pump. About $500 for the pump and $600 for labor. It seems to slowly deteriorate, but then gets much worse. probably
not a bad idea to be premptive considering what can happen.

 

Wow... That's more than Lawyers charge... It's why we call them Toyota Stealerships... In truth, the pump costs less than $100 online and it barely takes a half hour. Sure wish there was jail time for Toyota mechanics who think they can get away with charging a thousand dollars an hour because they know they can get away with it. If you don't believe me, check out Youtube videos on how easy it is to replace this pump.

 

On this model that 200K is real close to end of life for that system . Is engineered so. Don't try and reinvent what the mfgrs worked so hard to implement. Silly.

 

Kudos for monitoring your ECT! Those pumps usually get weaker. If you don't change your coolant or mix junk in there, that can stop the impeller from turning - your catastrophic failure.
Just keep monitoring your ECT, especially during hot summer months. If it can't keep the engine cool (below 230F), I'd change it the following weekend along with coolant.

Hope this helps....

PS; also check cooling fan operations - when they die, they tend to go unnoticed. I've bought and flipped a few cars like that. The repair shop those poor people was taking their car to couldn't figure-out how to fix the intermittent overheating issue.

 

Ouch:

Buy AISIN WPT190 Pump, Water. Prices, fast shipping, photos, weight - Amayama

For me it's showing $136 CDN, and "?" for shipping. From past experience with them shipping probably $35~40 CDN. Also based on past purchases around that amount: NO extras, say sales tax, import duty, whatever.

@Hybrid_Motorsports I'd do replacement next time you're doing coolant, presumably at 150K miles, per the US schedule.

 

$600 labor????? Do they charge $300 an hour?
2 hours is the MOST it should take them to diagnois and replace.

And $500 for the pump? Seems kinda high, even for Toyota.
Be carefull of the autostores ones, most seem to be cheap copies.
Some say the Aisin pumps are the same as the Toyota ones and they make them for Toyota.
They seem to cost $2-300.
If you are in not hurry, ordering them online and waiting for it to arrive could cost you less money.

It would probably be safer to order online from a Toyota dealership. At least you know you get,
or should get, a Toyota pump, just for less money.

 

I know it's always expensive at a dealer, but I didn't want to risk getting a couterfeit part. Plus it's hard to find
independents willing to work on them around here.

 

Since the impeller turned freely, (NO resistance at all? You should have felt the magnets),
They the pump was likely okay. The thermostat probably wasn't opening at the correct range.

 

You can look at the impellor and see it the plastic over the magnet is swelled or torn.
You have to remove the teeny tiny "O" ring that holds it on the shaft to remove it.

It's probably a good idea to replace it with all those miles, certainly won't hurt. Unless it's a cheap
chinese copy one.... You can find those impellers on ebay and amazon.

 

If no-one has answered the question, OEM temp lamp trips around 240F.

 

It looks fine in the photo, but they are misleading....
Likely you found your problem...