[net.auto] Toyota water pump inquiry

swc@cbsck.UUCP (Scott W. Collins) (03/17/86)

~
Have any Toyota owners out there had water pump problems?
I have heard through the grapevine that Toyotas are known
to have the water pump go out (or just its bearings, perhaps)
at or around 50k miles.

Any others that have heard/experienced this?

[ I have an '82 Toyota Corolla SR5 Liftback that is only at 21k
  and is grumbling up front in the water pump area ].

Thanks in advance,

Scott W. Collins
ihnp4!cbsck!swc

rib@arrow.UUCP (RI Block) (03/18/86)

The water pump on my '84 Camry died at 15k miles.
In the 84 Camry, the water pump is an internal part
driven by the cam (like a distributor).
The net result was that when the water pump seized,
it took the timing belt with it.  It was fixed under
warranty but the towing and miscellaneous charges,
not to mention that it was damaged in the tow,
left a vary bad taste behind.

eric@chronon.UUCP (Eric Black) (03/19/86)

>Have any Toyota owners out there had water pump problems?
>I have heard through the grapevine that Toyotas are known
>to have the water pump go out (or just its bearings, perhaps)
>at or around 50k miles.
>
>Any others that have heard/experienced this?
>
>[ I have an '82 Toyota Corolla SR5 Liftback that is only at 21k
>  and is grumbling up front in the water pump area ].
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Scott W. Collins
>ihnp4!cbsck!swc

The water pump on my '78 Corolla SR5 Liftback needed replacing
after only 125,000 miles.  Fortunately I was spared the task
by the other four cars that all wanted to get to know each other
(and mine) *intimately* :-)

Too bad, that car was the best I've ever owned, no maintenance
problems (but I took good care of it, esp. including changing the
oil AND filter every 3K miles or so, c.f. other recent articles),
and after 125K miles it ran and looked like a car with 20K or so miles.
I now drive a Tercel 4WD wagon, with 85K on it after 2-1/2 years
(well, I live in CA where distances are qualitatively different!).

To answer your question, I have not heard anything that would lead
me to believe this is a generic or common problem with Toyotas.
-- 
Eric Black   "Garbage In, Gospel Out"
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ins_asac@jhunix.UUCP (Stephan Alexa Cooper) (03/20/86)

In article <2057@cbsck.UUCP> swc@cbsck.UUCP writes:
>Have any Toyota owners out there had water pump problems?
>I have heard through the grapevine that Toyotas are known
>to have the water pump go out (or just its bearings, perhaps)
>at or around 50k miles.
>
>Any others that have heard/experienced this?
>
>[ I have an '82 Toyota Corolla SR5 Liftback that is only at 21k
>  and is grumbling up front in the water pump area ].

I had a similar experience.  On the car I used to drive, a 1977 Corolla
SR5 HB, the water pump died.  The weather had been cold for quite a while,
and the car had over 75K on it at the time, so I attributed it to those
two factors.  Needless to say it was NOT fun replacing the water pump when
it was below freezing out (this was 2 Febs. ago).  But I had been getting
some squeaking up front, sort of like a fan belt, before it went.  I think
the belts were loose, so I can't be too sure that that was it.  But the
answer is...Yes, I've had/heard this experience.
-- 

	Steve Cooper
	Johns Hopkins University
	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
	...!seismo!umcp-cs!jhunix!ins_asac

ins_aeas@jhunix.UUCP (Earle A .Sugar) (03/20/86)

>  But I had been getting
> some squeaking up front, sort of like a fan belt, before it went.  I think
> the belts were loose, so I can't be too sure that that was it.  But the
> answer is...Yes, I've had/heard this experience.
> -- 
> 
> 	Steve Cooper
> 	Johns Hopkins University
> 	...!seismo!umcp-cs!jhunix!ins_asac
Fan belts that are too tight can also destroy water pump (and power steering
pump, and alternator, etc.) bearings.  However, since your engine had 
over 70k miles on it, and you are from a cold climate (thermal cycling
helps do in bearings), so pump failure should be expected.

-- 
______________________________________________________________________________

Earle A. Sugar
Disclaimer:"Nobody else here at JHU ever agrees with my opinions"
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neal@weitek.UUCP (Neal Bedard) (03/20/86)

In article <186@chronon.UUCP>, eric@chronon.UUCP (Eric Black) writes:
> >Have any Toyota owners out there had water pump problems?
> >
> >[ I have an '82 Toyota Corolla SR5 Liftback that is only at 21k
> >  and is grumbling up front in the water pump area ].
> >
> The water pump on my '78 Corolla SR5 Liftback needed replacing
> after only 125,000 miles. [...]

I wasn't so lucky. Last December my '84 Supra ate its water pump at 38000
miles. The pump made growling/shieking noises and had some axial play in the
shaft before it let loose, wedging the fan into radiator (at low speed,
fortunately.) The extended warranty I had bought covered it.

Now here's the really suspicious part: two weeks prior to the pump failure
the dealership had fixed another problem (leaking oil pressure sensor.) At
that time I had them perform an `annual service', which includes tightening
the belts. My guess is that they were overzealous in setting the fan belt
tension, causing the failure.

My recommendations? If your Toyota is making water pump noise, get it fixed
pronto. If the dealer adjusts the belts, make sure they don't overtighten
the fan belt in particular.

BTW, the oil pressure sensor was the subject of a recall on Toyotas with the
5M-GE engine (DOHC six.) Supra and Cressida owners take note!

-Neal
-- 
"If I owned half of that dog, I'd shoot my half." -Pudd'nhead Wilson 
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mberns@ut-ngp.UUCP (Mark Bernstein) (03/21/86)

**

>  I had a similar experience.  On the car I used to drive, a 1977 Corolla
>  SR5 HB, the water pump died.  The weather had been cold for quite a while,
>  and the car had over 75K on it at the time,....
	       ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^

Um, I don't quite see how this is a "similar experience".
I'd hardly consider a 75K life span for a water pump a "problem"
(remember this discussion is about *premature* failure in Toyotas).
Let's not get carried away :-).  

Water pumps don't often last forever.  Sure, not all water pumps fail 
even after many more than 75K miles.  But it is not at all unusual for 
a pump to give out *some time* during the life of a car, and I wish I 
had gotten *as much as* 75K out of water pumps on some cars I've owned.  
Yes, I agree - there may be a manufacturer's design or quality problem 
if they *consistently* fail at very low mileage ( < 35K? ) in a
particular line of cars.    But I'm not sure that the recent postings 
on this issue are very convincing as to the existence of a real Toyota
problem in this area.  

--

Mark Bernstein, Univ of Texas at Austin, Speech Communication, Austin 78712
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dao@hou2d.UUCP (D.OSTRAY) (03/21/86)

My 1978 Toyota Corolla has 200,000 miles on it and is
on its third water pump. Still not a bad average life
in my opinion.  And of course it is important to
replace it as soon as it starts making those loud noises.

Dan Ostroy
hou2d!dao