Was driving my car tonight when I heard a very loud tapping noise when accelerating and would go away when letting off accelerator. Got into the parking lot of where I live and stopped the car and smoke started coming from under the hood. I immediately shut if off and had noticed a trail of leaking fluid. Then it seemed like the car released all the coolant. I'm thinking it's the water pump but I am not sure at this moment. Car has about 91k miles and everytime I take it for an oil change I ask them if the water pump is showing signs of leaking. Do you think I caused any more damage by driving it around? From when I heard the tapping noise to shutting it down was about 3-5 minutes.

 

If it is the water pump and you noticed the trail of coolant, you hopefully caught it in time. If you heard tapping the pump might have been run dry, i'd either tow it to a shop or DIY it. A water pump kit is relatively inexpensive and there are DIYs on this site to replace it.

I made a supplemental video on the job here:

 

Had it towed to the dealer and water pump had failed and needs new drive belts. Good thing I purchased an aftermarket warranty which is covering the water pump but not the belts. The warranty has already paid for half of the value and I still have 3.5 years remaining and 70k miles remaining.

 

just one serpentine belt

 

ive got a 95 LS400. dry pink crusty ring around my water pump seal. its been there for over a year. guess ive been very lucky. looks like its time to replace it as my temp gauge doesn't work so if it fails I wont know till its too late. however ive got a 1uz which is a hard engine to kill... still need to get it done I guess

 

The dealership told me two weeks ago that my water pump was about to fail. I thought ok, I'll replace it once it fails-- no big deal.

My water pump failed two nights ago, on a bridge, on a freeway. The car did not overheat. It lost all power and then stopped moving-- would not restart.

My mechanic just told me that I should consider just buying a used engine because it will be over $8k to try to fix this car.

I am very sad, angry-- I wish I knew that the water pump would destroy the engine!!! The dealership did not make that clear at all but they did tell me it needed to be replaced so I have no one to blame but myself.

I do not have the money for this.

Is there any chance that this water pump failure will not call for the replacement of the engine?

2007 GS 350, 133k miles, gorgeous baby! So bewildered right now!

 

Sorry this happened to ya.

When it comes to the GS 350 in particular if the water pump is leaking it's critical that it be replaced before it completely fails as you've experienced. A lot of these cars seem to have come with some pumps that failed early. Mine was leaking when I bought it at 90k miles. Luckily I had found clublexus and saw that this is something to look out for and replaced it as soon as possible.

If your car shut down it probably did overheat and may have suffered catastrophic damage. Several members have posted that the GS350 doesnt report a loss of coolant nor does it detect that the car is overheating once the coolant is gone. It'll just tell you everything is OK when it isn't.

You'll probably need to do major work to the engine or get a new engine to throw in (Or get rid of the car). It'll be an expensive lesson either way.

 

Take it to the dealer and have them diagnose it. They will tell you it needs to be rebuilt they will give you an insane price. You can try calling lexus customer support see if they will help out any on a rebuild.

You can buy a low mileage engine for about $2,300-$3000 pay a mechanic $600-$900 to install it.

 

Do you have a link or source for that kind of pricing? The mechanic quoted $8k!

 

Your mechanic is over pricing you. Swapping an engine is not rocket science and it doesnt involve much time. Look for a different mechanic, buy your own engine and you should be set.

But this time buy a new water pump, many of us guys run an aftermarket water pump called Aisan its actually oem, because aisan is owned by toyota.

To find a used engine try www.car-part.com this will search many salvage yards in the US.

 

Thanks man. So, I had a RWD engine. Can I replace it with an AWD engine? Can by a hybrid engine from a more recent year? I have a 2007 GS 350. Do I have to buy a 2007 GS 350 engine?

 

The search engine for car-part is pretty accurate in that the parts interchange. The IS350 motor fits in your car aswell. I dont know if the AWD is the same, it is the same engine spec code but may have a few slight differences. It may work! Also a lot of these salavage yards deliver to mechanics sometimes for free, you can also bargain with them for a lower price.


2007
Engine
Lexus IS350 4/07, 3.5, AUTO, 0 A 017700 $1850 Brickyard Imported Cars USA-IN(Brooklyn) E-mail 1-800-247-9273 and 1-317-831-2627


2006
Engine
Lexus IS350 3.5L,AT,06/06,RWD, RAN GOOD 71,931 A F412 $2500 W & W Auto Parts - Blue Island USA-IL(Blue-Island) Request_Quote 708-385-4000 Request_Insurance_Quote


2007
Engine
Lexus IS350 ROLL,BASE,08/06,3.5L,AT,RWD 60,000 A J6707G $2300 Al's Auto Parts, Inc. USA-PA(Trevose) E-mail 1-888-396-2199

 

I had the car towed to the dealership. The service guy is being optimistic in that since he knows my cam shafts sensor was giving me problems, he thinks the cam shaft sensor stopped the engine from functioning, not the failure of the water pump or water pump bearing. I'll have a better idea on Monday afternoon. I really hope I do not have to get a new engine.

 

Have they tried turning the motor by hand with a ratchet and a socket on the crank pulley to see if it is seized up? When you try to start it does the motor spin?

 

This happened to me a few years ago on my 2007 GS350.

No warning. No lights. No indication of overheating.

Nothing.

All of a sudden.. rattle..loss of power... catastrophic engine failure.