lbintab

iTrader: (1)

They won't say anything. I brought mine on Thursday. But I did have a list of instructions that they wrote on the car. Like not to rack it, don't touch my elevel key pad, etc.

aj73942

Hello everyone, I've been a reader for a couple of years, but never joined. This is my first post. I was reading about what others have experienced when taking their cars in for the recall and it was all very familiar. I took mine in on May 22, was given a nearly new RX 350 to drive. While I was out, the service manager called my cell and said that my cabin and engine air filters needed replaced. I told him I had just done the cabin filter a few months ago and to tap the engine filters out. He then told me that they could see a little seepage on he water pump indicating that it might fail soon. They wanted about $750 to change the pump. I told them I'd wait. This Lexus dealer was 240 miles from home, so I called my Toyota dealer where I'd bought a new tundra recently and asked if they could do it. They said yes and quoted me $540. My car has 105k and the water pump has never been done. Summer's here and I don't want it to fail on the road. I had the tech put the old water pump in the trunk after he changed it and there was a little crust of pink around the weep hole, so it probably was time. Looks like the filters and water pumps are items that the Lexus shops use for ways to generate some cash during the recall work. When the Lexus dealer finished the recall work, they washed my car and filled it with premium. I normally burn 87 octane and get around 530 miles from a tank. This tank of premium got me 580 miles. My best tank ever. I put premium back in and can tell the difference in response when passing. I love this car!

jmcraney

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. We frequently see reports like yours telling about a "failing" water pump being discovered during other services but I don't recall ever seeing a report of an overheated car due to a "weeping" water pump, or any other kind of water pump failure. We do see a few reports of unexplained low coolant levels causing heater problems and I suppose that could have been caused by weeping water pump but there are other possible explanations too. My question is: has anyone experienced a weeping water pump that was allowed to progress to something more serious? What happens if you just monitor for obvious puddles and coolant scent and replenish the coolant, say once a year, in situations where there is nothing showing other than pink deposit on the water pump? Is an expensive fix being applied to a non-problem?

duckblue

Similar experience here- had fuel recall done earlier this month, and service advisor at Sewell said water pump is leaking and asked for $880ish to replace. My 2008 only has 46k mi so I thought it was extremely early to go bad. I've also never noticed temp guage above middle. I declined and took it to a mechanic friend. He said it was seeping ever so slowly, so I had them go ahead and replace. Independent charged $500 ish to replace pump and coolant.

Sewell did give full tank of gas while doing fuel recall work.

LXurious

Why does everyone get that recommended when they bring their cars in???

Mine was replaced after I took it for the recall however my extended warrarnty coverd it, but I had no idea. Also my upper control arms on both sides needed to be replaced, thankfully also covered. This seems fishy to me though

roadfrog

Because water pumps do eventually fail and ours are hard to see and therefore we have no idea that they're leaking. Case in point - I proceeded to replace my serpentine belt and in doing so, discovered that my pump had a large build up of pink dried coolant around the weep hole. I had no idea it was leaking, but obviously it had been for a long time.

CRowe14

I'd also like to add that when I bought mine this past late Jan, that I probably had a leaking water pump as well, but as Road Frog just stated, its not the easiest thing to see and if you don't know where to look, you may not see it.
When I had the recall done on my car though, I was told that the car was in great condition-no leaks; controls arms looked good. So either they over-looked the leaking water pump, or it started leaking between Feb and May..hard to say..
Either way, its because of this forum, namely Road Frog (thanks again buddy), that I knew where to look and was able to do it myself. As a side note, I had about 68k on the car when I did the repair.
To be quite honest with you, after performing the repair, its simply absurd to say the least that they charge that much for that repair.

darksands

Same story here. Took car in for recall. Dealer filled up the tank after. Was told water pump was leaking. They quoted me 700 to get it replaced. I have a independent shop that I trust check it out and there was a pink buildup. My shop quoted me about 380 to get it replaced, part is 180. Got the part online from MyLParts for 154 so saved a few extra there. Car is at 110, so gonna do it all at the 120 mark.