Hi Prius Friends. I took my 78K '07 Prius into dealer for the recalls, one of which was the electric water pump. After picking up my car pulling out of the parking lot it started gurgling and hearing liquid sloshing around, I drove it straight back to dealer and they told me this new noise was from nothing they had done and must be a convenience. They believe its the ICE water pump as they can go bad at any time. I'm frustrated as I feel they had sabotaged my Prius and want the $400 to do the replacement. My question to the form is: Does the ICE water pump go out like this and do I believe these guys?
you mean a coincidence? did they take the car back into the shop to verify the problem? the water pump could go bad at any time, but 78k seems a bit low to me. more likely they didn't properly burp the system and there's air in it. if the water pump is bad, its either gonna wobble from a bad bearing, or leak from the seal. did they show you what was going on? "sabotage"ing a water pump is highly unlikely; usually thief shops simply tell you that you need stuff you don't need. they may or may not even do what they tell you needs done. sabotage is extra work. a thief wants to get paid for not working, rather than do extra work hoping to get more work. if you know anyone with a clue about cars, get them to take a quick look and listen. a bad water pump is usually very easy to spot, and so is low coolant.
Well, I have 62,000 miles and just brought my 2006 prius into the dealer for the recall and 60k service. They are noting that ICE water pump is leaking "pretty bad" and that my aux battery has bad cell and needs to be replaced. They want $300 for the battery and $270 for the water pump
**Mod Note: Moved thread to parent forum as the TSB sub-forum is specifically to post NEW TSB data, not ask questions about existing TSBs. **
As mentioned, the ICE water pump usually (at least as reported here on PC) ends up leaking around the shaft. This shows up as a blob of pink stuff which you can see hanging around the shaft/pulley. If no leak, then perhaps what the OP is hearing is an inadequately evacuated inverter coolant loop, and there is possibly still some air in the system. Take a look inside of the inverter reservoir while the car is in "Ready" mode and make sure there are ripples of turbulence in the liquid. If not then the shop needs to get rid of the air in the loop. There have been some reports that even the Toyota trained guys don't get all the air out on the first try.
They are telling me they did NOT touch the ICE pump only the other Electric Pump. What should I do here? They filled it back up and it has not leaked or made the noise and I've driven around town a few days and been out of town the rest. Im a bit nervous about this.
Well, if its not making the "gurgling" noise, then you should be fine. I would put the car on IG ON (two presses of the Start switch w/out one foot on the brake), open the hood and check the inverter coolant reservoir for movement of the fluid. Also listen and look for bubbling. If none, monitor for leaks in the system(s) by looking under the car for liquid. If none, I'd say you are fine.
of course they didn't touch the ice pump. its on the other side of the ice and not real easy to get to. if the noise is gone, they just didn't burp it properly. make sure the coolant level is full (cold) and forget about it. but to answer your question about "believe these guys", you didn't answer my questions, so you need to ask yourself if they did those things i mentioned. if they didn't, the answer is no.
