rfopt

The service history of my recently bought 07 Lexus ES350 with 128K miles lists the water pump being replaced at around 97K miles due to engine coolant leaking. When Lexus dealers replace ES350 water pumps, does anyone know if their procedure typically includes flushing the engine coolant system? What would you estimate is the percentage of engine coolant fluid capacity that is drained out only by the simple act of taking off the old water pump? Since that record the only other Lexus documented service activity is a replaced headlight bulb and the GLH airbag recall at around 117K miles so I'm assuming the engine coolant was never changed.

chuyrobles

Taking off the water pump is not a simple act, lol. If the ES350 was properly maintained, the coolant would have been replaced at 100K. If you have any doubts it may be worth your peace of mind to replace it. Or you can have a radiator shop test the coolant for proper ph and concentrate levels. I estimate 70% of the coolant comes out during a water pump replacement, but it would not surprise me if the dealer put back the drained coolant in the engine.

ThumperPup

was it a local car the entire time or was it atleast a local dealership to you that had done the waterpump
if yes one option you have is to go over to the dealership and ask a service associate to pull the history of what they did the detailed bill will show exactly what was done most likely alot more will be written on it than what they can fit into and report in the online service history
if not local you could always call and ask the dealership that did the work. When i first bought mine before i knew that there was a website to look up service history on our lexus i had sceene a sticket on the door and saw that my car had been local all its life where i had lived at the time so i went to the dealership that had the sticket on the inside of the door jam and the service associate was really nice while i was getting the warranty transfered into my name since it still have the factory waranty on the car he also printed up and entire service histroy of showing everything from the build date and first sale date of dealer prep up untill a few months before i bought it when it was detailed and had the battery changed.

rfopt

Thanks for the responses/suggestions.. I used a poor choice of words saying "simple act of taking off the water pump" as I know the replacement is not easy; I should of used the word "only" as I was trying to convey just the water pump coming off. 70% drained is definitely believable.

The car has been serviced mostly at 2 dealers 20-35 mile from me. Talking to the dealer is a good idea. A positive of the vehicle history is that I'm glad I only have 31K miles on the water pump replaced 3.5 years ago.

ThumperPup

i always say go to the dealer build a relation with a specific service advisor be loyal show up just for things like simple services and they will sometimes take care of you in other cases also.
what do i mean by this i have been lucky to find good people in service departments that have done anything from getting lexus to cover repairs and help with sending some parts out where i just have to pay for the labor and they get parts that should be covered under warranty even past warranty one time the dealership even got lexus to cover parts and labor for rear control arms i think it was the seized up when the car sat outside in the winter time for like 6 months when waiting on air bag recal to be completed
the dealership i went to to find out first service history of car and get the warranty transfered over the service advisor evne put one of there used car lot VIP stickers on my door jam so that i would get free car washes for the life of my car when i was living in flrida and when i travel back down i still get that. i had a aftermarket service contract on my vehicle and the service contract always wanted to use aftermarket parts and and i needed the water pump replaced one and the alternator and and the service contract wanted to send their own parts out the service adisor said no and convinsed them to cover OEM parts several times because the dealer in florida has a lifetime warranty on that work they perform. the dealership where i corrently live does not hasle me about brigning my own parts in and does not over charge me for labor lets me used the costco service discount evne when i bring my own parts in and did the tune up supplyed the plugs and did the labor and one gasket also and charged me like 320 for all that work which i think any other service department wanted lik 275 just for the labor alone 275 to 350

chuyrobles

I don't know that the VIP sticker really means anything - I'm thinking its mostly for the driver's psychological benefit. What they put in the computer is more importantly to them than a little sticker. Our ES350 with over 200K has only been to the dealer four times - when it was new; it's first oil change; to fix a brake issue under warranty; and, recently, for the ABS recall. They washed the car each time and they never put a sticker on our car.

I'm more of a pessimist when it comes to stealership mechanics. They tend to be young overworked mechanics. I'd rather find a reputable auto shop if you don't have the tools to do the work yourself.

coolsaber

Usually if a water pump is removed,you have to drain all the coolant. Now how far you drain the coolant is upto the tech and the instruction for the job. If draining the entire coolant is required then yes, it will also probably be reflected in the work order.

I dont know whats with the previous essay responses, but simple answer is what does the work order state happened if possible, or is the TIS job require the entire coolant to be drained?

If your are really concerned about the coolant, check the life of the coolant with a tester. and move on lol

ThumperPup

almost all dealerships will wash a car when its gone in for service i have never been to a lexus or toyota dealership where they did not wash the car during after a service visit.
but the sticket allows me to go in anytime i wanted for a car wash without going in for service
i could go in every single day of the week if i wanted to and get a free car i wouldnt do that i usualy went in once a week sometimes once every other week but i was only in for service like once every 3 months so the vip statues does mean something cause if you go into a dealership and say hey i just need a car wash most of the time unless you bought the car from them they will charge 20 bucks for what the local car wash charges 25 dollars a month for a pass

BobbyNGa

Sorry. Posted in wrong thread due to "related thread" feature (which should be removed IMO)

tolian21

I disagre on this one. I've had my ES350 for almost 10 years, and only went to dealer couple of times to do things like coolant flush, power steering fluid change, and ATF change. I do my own oil changes and filters. I have good place to do my brakes and tires, and they take my OEM pads and rotors. I saved thousands $ by not going to dealer and getting their so called "maintenance service packages" that are big rip off and a lot of times they dont do anything. Yeah, I get it, if something would break out of of warranty, they would not do me any favors (good will), thats fine with me. I saved more $ than whatever one time goodwill they would offer me. Its a big IF, they might just not do anything for their loyal customer, Second point is that 5th gen ES is a very reliable car and probability of having major issues (unless you dont follow basic maintenance) is very low. My preference is to save money now rather than build so called "relationship" with a stealer and hope they do something for me in future.

Wilson2000

On a water pump replacement, you will likely get a "drain and fill" with new coolant. A flush goes a step further with a flushing agent being run through the system by a machine, before it removes the old and replaces with new coolant.

doctorchar

So I wanted to jump into this thread. I am new to this platform. I'm not sure I am able to do this properly. The first message I wrote disappeared. My topic is life expectancy of a Lexus Water Pump.

I have a 2007 GS 350. I am the second owner and the first was my brother.
The car has 78,000 miles on it. I have done all the regular maintenance and then some.
I have had some issues with the dealership before so my confidence and trust levels are low.
I took it in about a week ago because there were three warning lights on: Check Engine, Brakes and VSC. I took it in for a diagnostic as I thought there might an electrical prolem., They explained they would do 1 hour of diagnostic and then call me before proceeding further. They did. They told me I needed to fix a leak in the exhaust before they could do anymore diagnosis..that cost $900
They called later to tell me car was done and they recommened $6000 of further repairs.

One of those repairs was replacing the water pump. Here's the deal. I replaced the water pump at 58K because they recommended it so I wouldn't have a problem with coolant leaking etc. The day after I picked up my car and later that day it started shooting steam. All of the coolant leaked out and the engine overheated. So I towed the car to the dealership where they examined it and said it was installed (by them) incorrectly. Now it is 4 years later and at 78K this would be the 3rd water pump. The service consultant said they often fail at 30,000 miles (or can). He also told me my problems with the car are due to my not driving enough. What I have read elsewhere is that water pumps usually last 100,000 miles. SO I would have 3 by 78,000.

Does this make sense to anyone out there?
Also, coincidentally, I think the total repairs would be the equivalent of the value of thee car.

Wilson2000

What is sad about your story is that you overheated the engine after the first errant water pump job. Overheating most cars, especially Toyota/Lexus vehicles is usually the beginning of the end of said vehicle. Once all your seals and gaskets are cooked, it leads to lifetime of leaks and even more serious damage like blown head-gaskets, warped heads and valves.

While the dealer is partly responsible for screwing up the water pump replacement, you get to share the blame because you didn't pull over immediately and shut it down. This is an all too common error drivers make because they don't want to be stranded. But it's better to be temporarily stranded than it is to ruin your engine.

Yes, you are going through water pumps too often. You need to have a good indy shop figure out why.

Clutchless

You should run away from that dealer as fast as possible and find a great local independent Toyota specialist shop that is more honest and competent. They obviously just want to empty your wallet. You need to draw the line on what is worth repairing on an aging vehicle. I bet the exhaust replacement only benefited the service advisors monthly quota and you could have driven much longer on the original one since its replacement did nothing to address your issues and they ignored your real complaint. Dealers always make insane repair recommendations that far exceed the cost of an aging vehicle. That is why you need to get second opinions and take their recommendations with a lot of suspicions.
Those trouble lights could have been caused by a loose gas cap or failing battery. Your local Autozone, O'Reillys etc can scan for codes for free.

Use this link to do an inital search for local independent shops, then cross check the shops against Google and Yelp as some of the data is old.
https://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

spaceballs

Ideally you should always refill with new coolant to avoid any contaminants in their drain bucket making it back into the engine. Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (the pink stuff) is ~$20 a gallon, and you wouldn't need even half the bottle, so it'll be closer to ~$10-$15. Not worth cheaping out on.