P261B Estimated Water Pump Life

Replaced mine on the 2013 Prius at 182k, noticed a red coolant seep/crust around it while doing other PM work on the car, also replaced the Thermostat. Did both as a result of reading this forum and deciding its a good PM move, especially as the car is driven in Arizona heat. Bought pump and thermostat from Rockauto (Aisin brand is OEM)

 

Last fall replaced the pump, coolant, differential fluids, 175k miles, all preventative maintenance. Auto shop said the pump was fine, still had it changed, diff oil was filthy which was expected. Hopefully my son can get another 100k miles out of it.

 

124,000 Miles for 2012 Prius V engine coolant pump......One Prius maintenance expert whose article I read firmly recommended 120K for the water pump replacement. Since I had just passed that mileage, and I now consider my 2012 Prius V (124K miles) a 10 year-old vehicle, and I live in Las Vegas with 100-115 outside air temperatures, I was seriously considering it. Then last weekend, I saw a coolant temperature light come on for about 5 seconds then go off. No other indications of trouble. So this week I decided to have a local shop replace the engine coolant pump, thermostat, and inverter coolant pump. Here is the photo of the old engine coolant pump. Note the cracked plastic covering on the rotor. The engine coolant pump was indeed going to fail soon and I am glad I got it replaced before it did. Note: Engine coolant had been changed at 64K miles and at 116K miles.

 

Is the shaft on the water pump supposed to spin? I just got a new Aisin pump in the mail box was damaged. Impeller spins shaft does not is this normal?

 

Doesn’t sound right; @Raytheeagle should know.

 

The impeller is the only part that spins. The shaft is integrated with the stator inside the cartridge. It is a magnetic electronically controlled brushless coupling. No, the cartridge does not spin.

 

Something does sound awry .

@cocot007 , can you take some pics of what you are describing as there maybe confusion as to what is what.

We can help with more information.

 

Just bought my 2010 Prius. Head gasket was done by dealership under warranty at 148,000 but they did not replace the water pumps. What is the best place to get good quality water pump does everybody say go to the dealer? The car currently has 190,000 miles on it the head gasket was done about a year and a half ago.

 

Ebay, amazon, auto parts stores... you'll find various prices.
You want an "Asin" brand, supposedly, they make them for Toyota.
Average price is around $200.00.

 

Buy Genuine Toyota 161A039015 (161A0-39015) Pump Assy, Engine Water. Prices, fast shipping, photos, weight - Amayama

Yeah see the Aisin is about $210 CDN, with shipping, for me.

 

Thank you for the fast response.

 

Aisin is the exact same part with Toyota engravement scratched. Aisin also sell coolant but not sure about the colors, sometime Blue but mau be red or pink too. We can use Pentosin or Zerek too.

 

Usually when things are called "exact same part", it's done without going much into how the manufacturer decides which ones to sell to Toyota and which ones to scratch the engraving off of and sell elsewhere.

 

Replaced my water pump and thermostat (with OEM from online USA Toyota dealers) at about 140k miles on Gen3 2010. I think the thermostat is much more robust, but while you have everything open and drained, might as well chuck in $35 t-stat, fairly easily. Seems a bit of a shame dealers dont warn you about potential hazardous failure scenario and then just wait until you fry the pump naturally and then replace it. I had coolant done at 125k by dealer. Would have probably done the pump - if they told me about - unless it was at "stealership" prices.

Regarding lifespan, I would think this is dependent on environment and driving style. for example, a "short drives" car could probably have a pump last another 50k compared to a highway car. Similarly, a car in Washington state (cooler temps 6-8 months out of the year), might have much less wear on a pump, compared to a Florida/Nevada car. Also, if you suspect anyone ever used coolant sealer "junk" (bars leak, or similar), I would definitely swap the pump ASAP, as I think that will create extra drag and pressure on the smaller tolerances of the pump.

I ran across a few tips and tricks when doing my swap. Will try to post in a write soon.

 

2016 Prius, 275,000 miles. Original everything except 1 strut, now water pump. Shocking $844 cost here in 2022.

 

wow! Does that price include parts and labor? Or was that just for the pump.

 

I don't think the pump failure detection by the car results in the gas pedal being disabled, but rather the quick increase in engine temp as a result of the failed water pump happening while driving on the highway caused the car to shut off the engine. The same thing happened to me on the freeway and I noticed the check engine light come on and then maybe 5 to 10 seconds later the engine shut off. I assumed it was due to a quick temp spike from no working water pump while the car is going 70 MPH.

 

Do you know whether the pump failure occurred gradually or suddenly? If it was very gradual, and if you had a way to monitor coolant temperature, you might've noticed the temperature creeping above normal range before the light came on.

I set my ScanGauge to show coolant temperature, but can't stare at it all the time.

 

I have my Scangauge right on top of the airbag on the steering wheel. It ie easy to scan frequently.

 

Suddenly I think. I never had the "red boat" high temp light come on or a P261B code before the incident where the water pump failed on the freeway, and in that incident I did not get a "red boat" high temp light either, just the orange triangle and engine shut off 5-10 seconds after the check engine light for P261B came on. I assumed the temp spike happened too fast for the high temp light. I drive regularly on the freeway for 30-minute-each-way trips so I imagine that I would have known about a slowly failing water pump, as I probably would have gotten high temp warning lights from those somewhat lengthy freeway trips with a partially working pump.

I was also able to start the car and drive it again when the tow truck arrived in order to position it to be towed. So the water pump wasn't working then either, and the engine still started with gas pedal functioning.

I'm no expert but I haven't read anything about slowly failing water pumps. I've just heard that they fail randomly when old due to a piece of broken off rubber jamming the impeller and stopping it completely. Based on the design of the pump being magnetically controlled I don't know how it could be only partially functioning, but again I'm no expert and new here.

I imagine my pump failed either because of age (happened around 210k miles), or more likely because I made a bad decision and decided to fill the cooling system with the thickest Bar's Leaks I could find to put off fixing the blown head gasket.