Attention: If you have a squeaky CHS water pump! New TSB

I thought there was a Canadian TSB, but I haven't been able to find one by searching this site and the Web. Regardless, my noisy pump was replaced (without any argument from my dealer) in 2007. I may have used the TSB from Toyota USA to alert the service manager to the existence of the problem.

 

Hi everyone,

I took my 2007 Prius to a local dealership yesterday (South Coast Toyota in Orange County, CA) and the service department replaced the CHS water pump without any hassle. I agree with the others about how much quieter the new pump is. I barely even notice the hum now when it is pumping. As others have experienced, I did notice some gurgling noises when I drove away from the dealership but noise went away after half hour of driving and turning the car off/on to test the pump. So far, no warning lights and very little pump noise. I am so very glad I had it replaced!

This thread was extremely helpful. Thank you to everyone who contributed to it!

 

OK, so I've perused the 100+ postings about bad coolant pumps and still have a question. I'm at about 130k and my pump sound has recently changed (temperatures haven't changed much - I'm in N. CA). No bearing sounds or grinding like in the much-appreciated .wav files. Simply went up an octave or so. I have plenty of fluid.

Anyone else? I assume it will fail soon, but I'm curious if anyone has experienced this (I'm way beyond warranty).

Thanks,
Jonathan

 

How does your SG tell you if the pump is working or not. I have a SG and would like mine to show me this info.

We have a 2006 and 2007 Prius. The 2006 is making the gurgling noise from the pump, while the 2007 sounds fine. I guess it's time to take it in for the warranty pump replacement.

I wish they would just give me the pump though so I could replace it myself. After looking over the TSB, it looks pretty easy to do. I hate wasting half a day at a Stealership, only for them to scratch or dent the car.

 

Set one of your gauges as Water Temp (WT). When you push the start button, if the pump is working and pumping hot coolant, you will see the temp rise after a few seconds. I have the units set for °C, so typically, the temp will be 24°C (ambient) when I first push the start button and rise to about 42 or 44°C after the coolant pump has finished pumping coolant.

And of course, its easy to tell when the pump has finished, because its so fricken loud.

 

You have a whistling teapot in your Prius.

 

Thanks to the OP for this post! I've printed out the TSB and will be dropping off the car tonight at the dealer. Hopefully in the early morning tomorrow they can catch the screech. I'm only at 14K miles now and it's not bad, but it's certainly there. Let's hope the service department does right by me.

-D

UPDATE: they've ordered the parts and it'll be fixed next week. Very cool.

 

After much procrastination I finally got this done today. I almost waited too long. The weather hasn't always been cool enough recently for the squeak to be noticeable, and my drive train warranty almost certainly would have run out before next fall. But the technician worked with me, so to speak, in "hearing" the squeak. He had replaced a couple of others and was familiar with the problem and the TSB. Kudos to him!

Tomorrow will be a good test. We had a cold front roll through yesterday and overnight lows tonight are supposed to be in the upper 30s.

 

Update: Quite a difference! Upon reaching work today and shutting down, nothing but a barely audible high-pitched hum.

 

Mine must not have been too bad. It would screech off and on before turning off, but now it just sounds like before without the screeching. The dealer also did a TSB regarding the AUX port when I complained about a flaky connection there (wiggle the jack and the sound cuts in and out). But when I tried it after the fix it did the same thing. Hmn... maybe I'll try a different cable!

- D

 

One hint -- check your coolant level after a day or two. I had trouble with my dealer not purging the air correctly so it was low (the coolant bottle was empty).

 

@TheForce: Thanks for posting recordings of your before/after of the pump sounds.

My '07 exhibits this problem. I have pointed it out to the Dealership a number of times without any corrective action.As compared to my gf's '09 Prius, mine definitely sounds different.

Lo and behold, I find the TSB here on PriusChat. This forum is a great resource. I will also be ordering the extended warranty through the forums here.

Cheers!

 

I reported this sound a long time ago, and everyone said I had one of my cats stuck in my Prius!!! (LOL)

 

I have been back to the dealer 3 time with the squeaky water pump problem.
With no satisfaction. The dealer says if they can't hear it they won't fix it.
I brought them a tape recording and they still refused to fix it.
Sent a letter to the CEO of Toyota U.S. along with a floppy disk of the squeaking noise
never got a reply.
I am trying LemonLaw.com next.
Anyone have a suggestion on how I can get Toyota's Attention
Danny Diesel

 

Try another dealer? Perhaps leave the car with them overnight?

 

Please go to this thread to see a maybe related issue where sometimes the (supposedly normal) pump noise is missing but the pump seems working:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...0-coolant-thermo-bottle-pump-not-working.html

Thanks!

 

My noise is not a squeak. It is a shrill grinding noise only on shutdown so far

 

"Shrill grinding noise only on shutdown" is exactly what the coolant transfer pump in mine sounded like, and it only happened in cold weather. Tell a dealer; Toyota may take pity and replace it under warranty.