My wife recently took our 2005 Toyota Camry (4 cylinder) in to the dealer for a routine oil change. There are about 101,700 miles on the car. After the oil change, they mentioned to my wife that the water pump was leaking and that the drive belt was discolored. They quoted a price of about $560 although it is unclear if that’s for replacing both the drive belt and the water pump or just one or the other.
There are no water spots under the car after it’s left parked in a concrete garage overnight. I don’t hear any kind of grinding noise when the engine is running. The car does not overheat. The coolant is not low. The air conditioner works fine.
Obviously I don’t want to drive around with a faulty water pump but I haven’t seen any symptoms that it is failing. Are they suggesting the replacement because I’m at the 100,000 mark? Or are there other symptoms I should look out for?
If I do need to take some action, do I have to replace the water pump or can they just tighten things up so there is no leak? Also, if all they say is there is discoloration on the drive belt, do I need to replace both the drive belt and the water pump or can I just replace the water pump?
If you took the water pump pulley off you might see this
If the water pump is showing signs of wear it should be replaced before total failure leaves you stranded and adds greatly to the expense and inconvenience of the repair.
If the water pump shows any signs of leaking or seepage, replace it. The picture above probably shows more seepage than you have, but if it’s leaking it’s broken and needs replacing. It’s not going to get better.
@Rod Knox, great link and photo showing what Toyota factory coolant looks like as the water pump starts to seep. For some reason the Toyota coolant tends to hang around and look like that “pink cauliflower” you see in the picture. Old green tends to just stain and dissipate.
BTW, a little off-topic, are you familiar with Luscious Garage, where you linked the photo from? Carolyn and her crew do a fine job of finding a “niche”, a woman-owned and operated independent garage. You’ll also notice the labor rate is $120/hour.
The view seen in my link is the water pump with the belt and pump pulley removed, @jesmed. An experienced mechanic will usually look around under a car while working on it and from underneath, with a good light, a great many problems can be recognized before they become catastrophes and I am assuming the mechanic was able to see the weep hole “scab” and recommend scheduling the repair rather than wait until a wrecker was necessary. From above, you will not be able to see the water pump weep hole. Wit a mechanic’s mirror and a good service light you might possibly be able to look under the pulley from above but it will be difficult.
@jasonkjlee, That is a great picture, but of the alternator (left), and A/C Compressor (center). The water pump is further left of the alternator, based on the perspective of the photo. This image is a classic symptom of a leaking water pump as seen from underneath the car:
I am puzzled by the engine in your photograph, @BustedKnuckles. Am I correct in guessing it is a domestic engine more than 30 years old? Being familiar with American iron dating back to the 50s I really should recognize the make of an engine looking at the water pump but you’ve stumped me.
If your water pump were leaking, you would notice a drop in the coolant level in your overflow tank every couple of days. Check the overflow tank in the morning before starting up your car, if the level is the same every morning, you do not have a leak.
It is not in your best interest to keep taking your car to the dealer for simple maintenance items like oil changes. The dealer has a vested interest in finding things wrong with your car in order to get you into the showroom. The service writer gets a small commission if he gets a customer into the showroom who buys a new car because the old one is “worn out”.
Find a good local independent mechanic and use him faithfully for all your maintenance needs. If the independent begins to find a lot of things wrong that you didn’t notice, find a different independent.
@db4690, “At $120/hr you may as well pay the dealer . . .”
Oh, I don’t know…the garage in question is in San Francisco and they have tooling and equipment equal to or better than the dealership. $120 for an independent shop in that city is probably fair for that market.
I’m south of Seattle and for an indy shop a bargain at $90. Couple of other indys in the area have broken the $100/hr mark. Chevy dealer is $109, Toyota is $120, Cadillac $135. I wouldn’t be surprised to see dealer rates in the SF area to be significantly higher.
I have friends selling a house in Oakland. 1100 sq. ft. on a 4000 sq. ft. lot, $329,000. That same house in Seattle might only bring $200,000. Everything is higher in the Bay Area.
There’s a small hole in the upper casing on the water pump in my Corolla, and when the waterpump fails, the first symptom is some fluid appearing in that hole. Its quite apparent, and easy to see. & that’s the reason for that hole I think, an early warning system. When water appears there, it usually doesn’t take long for the water pump to completely fail. If the water pump is just leaking at the seal where it bolts to the engine casing, it may be possible to just tighten the hold down bolts, but I’ve never experienced that situation before, and it is unlikely those bolts would have come loose, unless the water pump has been recently replaced. If this is the original water pump, replace it. And if it were my car, the timing belt – if this car has one — should be replaced too if it is within 30 K miles of being due. In the meantime, OP should monitor the coolant level daily, and monitor the coolant temp gauge on the dash board frequently when driving. Any signs of overheating, pull over and have the car towed to the shop.
As a 15 yr Toyota tech, I can tell you it’s leaking from the weep hole. A small amount of coolant is permitted to leak or weep to lubricate the shaft. Per our warranty guidelines, a small seepage is tolerable. If you notice pink spray on the hood and a reservoir that’s going low, it’s time to replace. Eventually, whether or not the pump is weeping, it’s going to go bad. Toyota water pumps aren’t the greatest. It’s not a bad job. We get 2.5 hours at 104/hr to replace pump , belt, and bleed out the cooling system. If its not making a grinding noise, you still have some time. But be ready to be proactive and have it replaced. When the bearings go kaput, your belt pops, no charging, and no engine cooling. I’ve seen them bad at 40k, so over 100k is pretty good. You can press your luck if $ is tight, but if it were me, I’d take it to a Toyota dealer, where you’ll get a good quality part (compared to an aftermarket one) and gave it done right. And be on your way for another 100k. Cheers.
Years ago with my 1984 Camry, when having routine servicing done I was told the water pump was going bad. That was Monday. I made an appointment to have it fixed on Friday. Wednesday the bearings seized and I had to have it towed in.
I make a habit of checking the coolant and other fluids often. Dropping coolant levels have been my first warning of bad water pumps and bad radiators before the engine ever overheated.
Several years ago I recommended replacing all of the heater hoses and coolant hoses on an older car. This was because several of the hoses were crusty and bulging.
The customer declined the repair, because they thought I was exaggerating the situation.
The customer drove their car home.
The car came back the next week . . . on the hook . . . the hoses let go
I only told this story to illustrate that when a mechanic says a part will soon fail, he may just be telling the truth
db, not to get defensive here, but I am standing firmly on my previous statement. If the OP checks his coolant every morning and over the course of a few days or weeks, the level does not change, then he does NOT have a leak. The engine does not produces its own coolant.
I hate to see someone sucked into an unneeded repair, or into buying a new car before it is really needed. I just had to replace a water pump on my Saturn a few weeks ago. Even before I could see any moisture around the water pump, I noticed that the coolant level was dropping in the reservoir about once a week. It took me about three weeks to finely find the leaking water pump. It had 257k miles on it.
