Dealer told water pump was leaking need help/advice.

Gen2 Water pump failure is fairly common. We do 75-100 of them a year. Make sure you use the metal type gasket between water pump and engine. No sealant is required. If your water pump came with a cardboard gasket throw it away and go get a metal one...the cardboard ones will leak after a while. The fasteners between water pump and engine should be torqued to 96 inch pounds.

 

^ Careful folks, that's 8 foot pounds.

(There was someone here who torqued the beejesus out of ignition coil hold-down bolts, taking inch pounds to be foot pounds. Common sense did not prevail, he snapped the bolt head right off.)

 

My Prius has been making a tickticktickticktick noise for a couple of months. Only when the engine is running of course. It was quiet at first. Now it's tickticktickticktick -- loud.

My mechanic says I need a new water pump. That it's the bearing. There is no leak.

This didn't make sense to me but he's been my mechanic for a long, long time and I trust him. Then I talked to a girlfriend who also goes to the same mechanic and she told me he told HER she needed a new water pump too. (she has a Honda). This was a few weeks ago, she's been keeping an eye on her temp gauge and it's been fine.

Any input into this would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Paige

 

It could be the engine coolant pump or the idler pulley. Once the serpentine drive belt is removed, your mechanic can rotate the coolant pump and idler pulley by hand to determine the condition of the bearings and decide what needs to be replaced.

You should hope that one of those parts is the problem because if they are not, then your engine has a much more serious problem - like a broken part in the valve train or who knows what.

 

Sorry -- there's a difference between water pump and coolant pump?

 

The Prius has several coolant pumps so I like to be specific when referring to them rather than saying "water pump". Here are the four in North American 2G Prius:

1. engine coolant pump (mechanical pump that is the subject of your query)
2. inverter coolant pump (located behind driver's headlamp assembly)
3. engine coolant heat recovery system pump (located in driver's front fender well)
4. cabin heater core pump (located behind the inverter near the firewall)

 

Thank you.

Could a noise like what I described be a bearing? If so, can only the bearing be replaced? Or is it the same cost as replacing a whole water pump. Assuming it is the bearing in the engine coolant pump how long can I continue to drive it while making the noise, and what happens if the bearing seizes?

If it is the engine coolant pump can I do it myself as described in many of the posts above?

 

The noise likely is the result of a failed bearing. The bearing is part of the coolant pump. The idler pulley also contains a bearing. If either bearing has failed you would replace the entire part. Neither part is particularly expensive.

Can you do it yourself - well, I have posted on how to do that work so I recommend you find my post (the link to that is in my post #12 above) and decide whether this is something you can do. I would not recommend that job if you have no prior automotive repair experience and lack the proper tools and someone who knows what they are doing to help.

If you are hearing lots of noise, I would not delay the repair. If the bearing fails, your engine cooling system will fail as the serpentine drive belt will fall off. At that point if you don't immediately stop, your engine will be destroyed.

 

Ok thanks Patrick, that helps explain it.

Assuming it is the bearing in the engine coolant pump or the other thing how long can I continue to drive it while making the noise, and what happens if the bearing seizes?

As for doing it myself, I have done some work myself but not recently. i do have a couple of people who know what they're doing who could help me (and who also have the tools). But if it's in danger of blowing up instantly, I wouldn't have the time to gather those things together.

Thanks again,
Paige

 

Partially answered in post #31 above. I cannot predict with 100% certainty how long the bearing will last so I suggest you take action sooner (like this weekend) vs. later (do not wait until the summer season.)

 

Might I mention...the fires in the gen3's that all seem to be dried coolant in the engine bay being ignited by ????

I'd tend to hose off any residue, often.
"err, now that it's an actual problem, I will hose the bonnet frequently"

 

concurs with m
Thank you, thank you Patrick. Sorry I didn't see your last paragraph in Post #31. I appreciate your help. What you've said confirms what my mechanic told me. I will bring it to him straight away as I would not be able to diagnose a bearing problem nor be able to tell which part needed replacing.
All the best,
Paige

 

1. It appears you drained 6.5 quarts and added 7 quarts. If that is correct, then there should be no significant air in the engine coolant system.
2. Start the engine and rev it up as fast as you can get it to spin for 10 minutes or so. While the car is sitting there on your driveway with the gear selector in P, the fastest engine speed is likely to be only 3,000 RPM or so.
3. Set the cabin air temp to MAX HEAT and turn the cabin fan on to its fastest speed. Make sure that the cabin heater works OK and that you do not hear air bubbling through the heater core. If the cabin heater works and you don't hear bubbling, that is further evidence you did a good job.
4. Let the car go through a few heating/cooling cycles and see how the fluid level changes in the radiator and the overflow reservoir. Once the overflow reservoir level remains constant, see where it is. If it is significantly higher than the full mark on the reservoir, I suggest that you consider removing the excess fluid. The best way would be by snaking a suction tube down to the level of the fluid.
5. Make sure the fluid level in the radiator itself remains totally full.

 

aisin brand pumps are oem. if you buy an aisin you will see where they have ground "Toyota" off the pump. it will likely cost less, but its the same part.

it could be that particular service writer at that dealer is a thief; I would use a different service advisor if I went back to that dealer. if the 2nd advisor tries to rip you off, then you know the whole dealer is crooked. some service writers are completely dishonest and will try to skin every customer, every time.

 

I recently drained and refilled my ICE coolant and it took several heat/cool cycles to get it stabilized. One morning I had a minor gusher of coolant out the radiator neck when the system was not quite full. After that, I used the bleeder valve on the driver's side of the top of the radiator (6 mm hex key) with clear tubing attached to check the level and bleed remaining air. I also used my Mini VCI to run the CHRS pump a few times, for good measure. I believe those two tools are important for Prius coolant system work. They are covered well in Patrick's threads referred to earlier.

 

Toyota Fan, if haven't included this as part of your air bleed process you might try elevating the passenger front side of vehicle as you are trying to purge the remaining air out of your system with the Lisle Funnel, radiator bleeder, inspection mode cycling etc.