2009 Highlander - water pump fail

[ls1mike]

I just replaced the one on my truck 38,000 miles and 13 years old. Reason being is the gasket to the block was leaking! It sits too long. Pump was fine, but since I was in there I purchased a brand new AC/Delco unit. 6 bolts hold the pump to the block.

Of all the cars I have had, I can only recall two failures. One on my 02 TDi Jetta and After I did the cam install on the Trans Am the pump failed. I think it may have been because it got dropped from the lift...

 

[zzyzzx]

Obligatory:

 

[friendly_jacek]

yes, the 05+ toyotas have problem with WP failing more than they should. some people blame the pink super duper long life coolant (10 years or 100,000 miles IIRC). I personally have/had 4 toyotas and so far no failure yet. however, one was 03 with red coolant and I converted another one to not as long life red coolant.

BTW, from all those beater cars I had, i only had one WP failure, leak in 1992 mazda protege with 120,000 miles.

 

[wirelessF]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
I just replaced the one on my truck 38,000 miles and 13 years old. Reason being is the gasket to the block was leaking! It sits too long. Pump was fine, but since I was in there I purchased a brand new AC/Delco unit. 6 bolts hold the pump to the block.

Of all the cars I have had, I can only recall two failures. One on my 02 TDi Jetta and After I did the cam install on the Trans Am the pump failed. I think it may have been because it got dropped from the lift...


I'm still on the original pump on my 02 1500 Silverado. Mines had the same leak you described but I just replaced the gaskets instead since the pump pulley does not feel seized and the thermostat is not stuck open. Not sure whats gonna be the real failure point on those pumps as long the cooling system is maintained. On a 01 Toyota Tundra I changed the water pump as the same time with the timing belt. Coolant was weeping out of the weephole which explained minor coolant loss and the smell of coolant on a warm day. For the 04 BMW 325i the coolant was gushing out of the weephole, coolant made a mess under the hood and had to top off coolant every week.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Time or mileage on all fluids.

Brakes need to be bled.
I'd even consider a full ATF change. If AWD, change the xfer case and diff. Oil change yearly. Change engine and cabin air filter too. And, use Stabil with every fill up.

The Pink coolant is 10yr/100k on initial fill. All service after that is 5yr/50k. So, why is the factory fill twice as good as the 50:50 premix in the jug from the dealer?

Your choice. Save the environment by not changing fluids.
Save your vehicle by changing them.

Good luck finding a good waterpump. The OE Aisin that is recommended just proved to you that its junk.

Btw, check those cam oil lines and oil cooler lines. Metal replacements are available if they leak, and worthy upgrade if rubber.

 

[thunderfog]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Not every part is 100% against failure, even on the reliable Toyota's.....

But most of the time, I have replaced water pumps as part of a maintenance(timing belt) or just plain age!


Curious....how often was the coolant changed on this 6-yr old car? With only 18k miles I might guess not once...and that could be a problem...sitting/uncirculating a lot during those years ...old coolant can degrade, with its seal LUBRICATING ability along with its cooling ability....

Change the coolant with the pump.


It seems as though you're asking me when in fact, you need to direct your question of curiosity to the OP(thunderfog)!


The coolant likely had never been changed, but it was with the water pump replacement, as was the thermostat and belt.

 

[KitaCam]

...change the coolant (drain/fill) every 3 years.

 

[Number_35]

Several years ago I was replacing a timing belt on our Mazda MPV 3.0, purely on the basis of mileage (202,000 km), and thought I should replace the factory water pump which was not leaking or making any noise.

Rather than buying one from the dealer (c. $200), I bought a Tru-Flow from NAPA for about $130.

A year and a half to two years later, the van started leaking green onto the driveway. I had a hard time finding the leak as the coolant was all the place, blown by the fan. Lived with adding coolant for another year or so, and finally took it to a garage for a diagnosis. It was the new water pump, which I hadn't even considered. The garage offered to do the entire job, and I was tempted, but when they said they'd put on an aftermarket pump I decided to do to do it myself. (The service writer didn't understand my concern - 'Hey, China and Japan - same thing!') Bought the dealer pump this time, and did it myself.

So how much did that cheap water pump cost me? Lost the $130 + tax for the original pump, perhaps $100 for an hour of garage time, and used a vacation day to do the replacement. Plus paid $200 for the dealer WP anyway.

I will be very careful about aftermarket critical parts in future.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: KitaCam
...change the coolant (drain/fill) every 3 years.


I think this is great advice - I change out the old-style green in my older van every two years, although believe the newer coolants can go longer.

But, with the newer water pumps having sealed bearings, does the condition of the coolant have any effect on water pump life anymore?

 

[yesthatsteve]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
yes, the 05+ toyotas have problem with WP failing more than they should. some people blame the pink super duper long life coolant (10 years or 100,000 miles IIRC). I personally have/had 4 toyotas and so far no failure yet. however, one was 03 with red coolant and I converted another one to not as long life red coolant.

BTW, from all those beater cars I had, i only had one WP failure, leak in 1992 mazda protege with 120,000 miles.


The xB in my sig needed a water pump replacement at 114k. A slow leak through the weep hole and growling bearings gave me early warning, so it didn't fail completely. I knew it was a fairly common problem with the 1NZ-FE, but didn't know about other engines. I have just over 50k on a Bosch aftermarket unit (Aisin wasn't in stock at Rockauto or Amazon), and used Zerex Asian Vehicle coolant when installing it. In January, I did a D&F with more Zerex Asian. That was 48k and 2.75 years after installing the new water pump.

I've experienced three other other water pump failures: a '76 Toyota Corona when I was in high school, a '66 Mercedes-Benz 250S when I was in college, and my parents' '94 Bravada that I borrowed about twelve years ago while my car was in the shop getting a timing belt replaced.

 

[Quest]

sorry, for I simply cannot see how a simple water pump failure can drag on to become a 2+page discussions.

Fact is: (a) automobiles are a very complicated stuff, with thousands of small parts, screws, and hundreds of bigger components. (b) although QC is meant to keep component failure to absolute minimum; in real life situation: anything could happen to anyone @ any given time (c) one small failure in the realm of 10s, if not 100s of thousands of units manufactured is still considered acceptable, statistically speaking; (d) internet is a perpetual echo chamber where 1 single failure would perpetuate into millions.....

I've done enough water pump jobs to many different makes to come to the conclusion that anything could happen @ any given time, to any brand/model even the so-called OEM or top-OTC brands of components, including but not limited to water pumps. some automobile brands seem to suffer more frequently than others due to their parts sourcing and quality expectation (lowest bidders win the contract to supply OEM parts).
.

Q.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: Quest
sorry, for I simply cannot see how a simple water pump failure can drag on to become a 2+page discussions.

...internet is a perpetual echo chamber where 1 single failure would perpetuate into millions.....

...some automobile brands seem to suffer more frequently than others due to their parts sourcing and quality expectation (lowest bidders win the contract to supply OEM parts).
.

Q.


I guess the point here is that there are some preventative measures that can taken with regards to the water pump...some that are often overlooked...such as simply changing the "long-life" coolant...people often confuse (Toyota's) "long-life" with "life-long" and don't realize that coolant is also a lubricant....thus serving two functions.

...and perhaps this...that car maintenance is a function of the typical owner of a particular brand...not to knock Toyo owners per se....

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: Quest
sorry, for I simply cannot see how a simple water pump failure can drag on to become a 2+page discussions.

Fact is: (a) automobiles are a very complicated stuff, with thousands of small parts, screws, and hundreds of bigger components. (b) although QC is meant to keep component failure to absolute minimum; in real life situation: anything could happen to anyone @ any given time (c) one small failure in the realm of 10s, if not 100s of thousands of units manufactured is still considered acceptable, statistically speaking; (d) internet is a perpetual echo chamber where 1 single failure would perpetuate into millions.....

I've done enough water pump jobs to many different makes to come to the conclusion that anything could happen @ any given time, to any brand/model even the so-called OEM or top-OTC brands of components, including but not limited to water pumps. some automobile brands seem to suffer more frequently than others due to their parts sourcing and quality expectation (lowest bidders win the contract to supply OEM parts).
.

Q.


except, if you check the recent CR survey results, toyota got that black dot result for engine cooling in many models. that's not a coincident.

 

[NJC]

Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
I have never had a water pump failure either, all our 1zz-fe, 2az-fe have original waster pump with 130 to 360k miles on them, no idea why people are complaining about reliability for, maybe newer toyotas aren't as good?

I just replaced timing belt kit (including pump) on a 2004 Sienna ~130K miles. The pump bearing was worn so badly it allowed the timing belt to slide on to pulley lip and shred it. It's an early failure IMO but there's no way I would not change the pump when doing the tbelt on a Sienna.