heidihidin

hello
we have a 2008 ES 350 w/110k miles.
during the last inspection the service adviser said there is a growling sound coming from the engine and sounds like water pump bearing or pulley is on its way out and we need to replace the water pump.
there are no leaks visible.
does this sound right and is there an easy way to confirm that it is the water pump making this noise?

thank you

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

If they suggest a waterpump, I highly suggest not waiting on replacing it. It is extremely common on this engine.

heidihidin

yes i am aware but how would they know by just noise?
also i was told by someone here that a waterpump would always leak before failure

tghw

Don't believe everything you hear. That is simply not true. Noise is also a very common indication that the pump is about to fail. The waterpump is driven off of a shaft through a bearing. If the bearing starts to fail it can make noise as well as the bearing on the pulley. In addition, it is common knowledge that these pumps fail fairly regularly after 100K mi. and it is always recommended to replace them BEFORE they fail completely or risk damaging your engine due to overheating. Do a quick search on this board and you will find plenty of information that back up what I said.

You are due to have changed anyway.so take the mechanics wise advice and replace it.