Well, as most you know I had a major problem with my car this week, and assumed a few possibilities as to what was the cause. Please read ( THICK SMOKE COMING FROM ENGINE BAY ) This Monday I had my car towed to Lexus to get to the bottom of this, and shortly there after they confirmed that the water pump had in fact failed and coolant was leaking.

Regardless I caught this matter before it completely went downhill, and basically I want other members to please be aware of the following symptoms that I had; fumes or smoke coming from engine bay, very thick white smoke coming from exhaust steadily even after warming up, strange noises coming from engine bay, hesitation while at WOT, and any sweet smell around vehicle after driving. Also, I noticed coolant level quickly dropping when I was looking under the hood for the 2 days over the weekend. These are all going to be signs of a water pump going bad on our cars.

Please check your coolant regularly to see if it is running low. There are no LOW COOLANT lights, and the coolant temp gauge will have no indicators either.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CAR! Have it towed to Lexus or you might ruin your engine permanently.

My water pump failed at 80500 miles. My vehicle is a 2007 Lexus GS 350 RWD.

On this note please remember we are talking about Lexus, and they have superior customer service.

Thanks, Ziggy

 

Sux man sorry to hear this but glad you figured it out. What was the cost breakdown of the repair?

 

Here it is straight from the tech;

" A GUEST STATES THAT THERE IS WHITE SMOKE COMING FROM THE ENGINE AND ITS LOW ON COOLANT PLEASE CHECK AND ADVISE"

" CAUSE: WATER PUMP HAS EXCESSIVE FREE PLAY REPLACED WATER PUMP"

" WATER PUMP SHAFT SEAL DEFORMED AND LEAKING NO WHITE SMOKE FROM ENGINE ON TEST DRIVE. COOLANT LEVEL WAS ONLY SLIGHTLY LOW. REPLACED WATER PUMP AND REPLACED LOST COOLANT."

 

The repair is estimated at $650.00 by Lexus.

 

When mine failed Ihad none of those symptoms, my car was otherwise driving normally right up until the engine completely failed.

 

ugh - you can get a water pump for ~$150, so they are charging roughly 5 hours of labor for that work.

 

Thats a good price, My dealership told me around $900 if I wanted to replace it. Thats without the parts.

 

Ouch. That is hefty.

 

I did advise caution on driving the car, so good to hear you managed to get a correct diagnosis, and the problem resolved.
Could've done without the wallet rapage, esp this time of year, but these pumps going, or their seals, is very early in mileage terms and age.
BMW buyers are cautioned about their pump going once the engine sees over the 100K mark (E65 7s I'm talking about, but may also include the E60 5s too), so it seems quite oxymoronic to give BMW grief, when Lexus can't seemingly keep it together for as long.
Be interesting to see how many others find themselves in a similar position.

 

They charge retail price.$251 + tax.
And 1.8 hrs labor.

 

ouch, not looking good seeing two cars having the same failure. as Boron mentioned this is typical for a BMW between 100k - 150k. I made it to 155k with no leaks or issues and just replaced everything to be safe on my BMW. shocked to see failures with such low mileage. wonder what is causing this to happen??

its not the part that's difficult to replace, its the location and all that has to be taken apart. At this point time for timing belt and everything else while its all apart. Make it worth your wild if your paying a shop/dealer for the services.

 

I dont know what is happening but it got me worried, I'm taking it to dealer hope they will replace if its leaking if not I'm gonna have to get it done by my friend. I don't want to see this happen to me.

 

wonder if this is harder to replace on the h

 

155k on a BMW? What BMW? Sure as heck isn't an E36, 38, 39, 46..... If it is you got lucky! My E38 just needed pump #4 at 159k, it is 16 years old however.

 

Yea seems that way however all of my German cars have been fine. All the bad stuff I read, knock on wood, doesn't seam to be an issue on my cars. I do all of my work so maybe that helps. No cutting corners and yea its an e46 sport wagon 12 years old. I replaced the radiator, thermostat, expansion tank, ect....figured with winter and snow coming just do it and be done. Other then the car being very slow I enjoy driving it.

Seems I had the opposite luck with both my Lexus. Rattles and minor stuff but nothing I had experienced in other cars. Glad I dumped my GS.