Change the water pump prophylactically?

[Jonzobot]

Hi all -

Toyota Tercel, 1999, 290,000 km. I was under the car doing rust-spraying and took a look at the underside of the water pump. I was surprised to see a fair amount of crust under the weep-hole.

Thing is, it's not making noise (I stuck the stethoscope on it and it sounds just like the alternator and steering pump sounds, save for a very faint clicking noise).

I am also not leaking coolant noticeably. I had to fill up the reservoir when it reached the minimum level (about a half-pint to a pint), that was after 1 year since it was last drained and filled to the max level. I have also seen my upper radiator hose has the slightest leak around the clamp. It doesn't look the greatest so I'll be changing the hoses anyway.

So, is crust around the weep hole terminal? Should I change it out before it strands me? Or is that normal after 290,000km and 18 years? Remember, no unusual noise or grinding, even with the stethoscope. Since I'm changing the rad hose, should I just change it anyway since the system will need to be drained?

I know that this mileage is your typical OEM water pump's end of life. My inner voice is telling me to change it. Does the community concur?

 

[Fsharp]

I don't think it will fail catastrophically and strand you without warning. Don't change it until it starts to leak or make noise.

 

[Kestas]

After that many miles, it would be a good idea to replace the water pump before it goes out, considering your findings. The seal for the water pump is considered a wear item. If the car has been demoted to around town use, then you may hold off and wait for it to get worse.

 

[Chris142]

It will start leaking now that you mentioned it.

 

[WillsYoda]

If it is just an around the town car I might wait. Check your coolant levels periodically, and if there is a significant drop you might find the leak is at the pump. But crust doesn't always mean it will fail soon.

I had a bad valve cover leak on my toyota avalon 1998, which I fixed. Unfortunately, the maxlife 5w30 that dripped out got all over the water pump seal below, which softened it enough to make the water pump seal blow after a while. I was driving down the road when most of my coolant leaked out. I probably drove 5 miles with no coolant before I noticed a problem. The engine did not overheat (it was below freezing at the time) and all is fine now with my new Aisin pump that I installed with a timing belt. I have driven the car 10k miles since and all is well.

I'm the kind of guy who would wait on it unless I was going to take a long trip. But for around town, I'd let it ride.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Jonzobot
I was surprised to see a fair amount of crust under the weep-hole.
So, is crust around the weep hole terminal? Should I change it out before it strands me?


When you see that its a good sign the seal is beginning to fail, change it.

 

[Kuato]

LOL prophylactically!!

 

[Jonzobot]

Thanks everyone for the replies

. Yes it is a commuter car, though in the summer I do take a fair number of road trips. I'll leave it until next spring and then put in new hoses, pump, rad cap, thermostat. Until then I'll keep a close eye on coolant levels.

 

[Olas]

Change it prophylactically? Is that an autocorrect for preventatively?

If the former, no, just tools and gloves.
If you mean the latter then yes, definitely.

 

[eljefino]

Prophylaxis has several definitions, you middle school gigglers. OP used the term correctly.

I would crack the pressure cap when it's hot to see if it holds pressure. If it doesn't, I'd do the pump conveniently soon. You want pressure to keep micro-boiling from occurring in the water jackets.

 

[umungus1122]

Originally Posted By: Kuato
LOL prophylactically!!

 

[KingCake]

Toyota's get crusty at the weephole and Toyota has said over and over again that it's normal.

If you do replace don't replace it with something of worse quality. Get an OE pump or Aisin.

 

[KingCake]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Prophylaxis has several definitions, you middle school gigglers. OP used the term correctly.

I would crack the pressure cap when it's hot to see if it holds pressure. If it doesn't, I'd do the pump conveniently soon. You want pressure to keep micro-boiling from occurring in the water jackets.


Half of this website thinks you should run 20w-50 in everything with a spark plugs so I don't expect them to understand words with more than three syllables.

 

[Jonzobot]

> Toyota's get crusty at the weephole and Toyota has said over and over again that it's normal.


Interesting. I'll look into that, thanks for the heads up.

 

[KingCake]

Originally Posted By: Jonzobot
> Toyota's get crusty at the weephole and Toyota has said over and over again that it's normal.


Interesting. I'll look into that, thanks for the heads up.

 

[4WD]

Malarone in countries with Malaria ...

I did a preemptive change of a water pump - had to pull for timing belt - so why not. Pump was the cheap part ...

 

[KingCake]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
Malarone in countries with Malaria ...

I did a preemptive change of a water pump - had to pull for timing belt - so why not. Pump was the cheap part ...


If your pump was cheap you likely put in something of lesser quality than what you had.

 

[Trav]

It is not the same style bearing in the earlier ones, here is page one of that TSB, its not applicable.

 

[4WD]

Mopar OEM pump.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Prophylaxis has several definitions, you middle school gigglers. OP used the term correctly.


That's entirely debatable. A descriptivist would say that the laughter and comments make OP's usage incorrect ipso facto.