So I am nearing the end of my warranty and have been trying to get TSBs taken care of before I'm out of warranty. There is one TSB that is particularly concerning to me. It's T-SB-0143-10 for replacement of the coolant pump. From the looks of it, its just a matter of time before my coolant pump will go out, since my vin # falls within the TSB noted vins. It will be luck that 1 mile over my warranty is when it will happen. I would love to get this costly repair done before the warranty is up so Toyota will pay for it, but they won't fix it without the computer showing the code P261B- Engine Coolant Pump "B" Control Malfunction or P261C- Engine Coolant Pump "b" Control Circuit Low. Is there any way to create a situation where the check engine light would come on and the computer show one of these codes, even just for a few seconds? Then, I could take it to Toyota and they could pull the computer history, see the codes, and replace the coolant pump. Any ideas? I'm not against opening the hood and rigging something just for a couple minutes in order to pull one of those codes.
Your post is one of the reasons I would buy an extended warranty that covered TSB's beyond the warranty. One of the weak links in consumer protection laws here in the US....
Some are, but most just refuse to spend any of their own money on customer satisfaction. It's an age-old problem. They will spend Toyota's or the customer's (or whomever) money but not their own. They save their own money and don't fix our problems with our cars just because we say...they have to see it with their own eyes. This is a good way to be in general because most customers' diagnosis can't be trusted; neither can a mechanic from another shop. However, for those of us who know what we're talking about, and know how things work, it's very frustrating.
So Toyota should replace our working water pumps with a newer working water pump. Sounds like a waste?
Well if there's no change in part number, that's different. Just prolonging the inevitable, coolant pump failure. Unless there was a running production change, or a fault in manufacturing the early units, there's no reason to get a new one now "just in case".
