Working on my wife's 2007 and the manual says I've got to remove the engine and transaxle?!?! There's got to be an easier way. Anybody have access to Identifix or iATA that can look into this for me?

 

I do not think you have to remove the engine but I believe you will have to jack it up to gain access. Poor design if you ask me - similar to having to remove the top end to swap the rear spark plugs.

 

The IS350 directions are here - not saure if helpful:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/att...-pump-svce.pdf

 

I talked with a Lexus tech today and he said he jacks it up. This should be fun.

 

yeah same crap for control arm bushings. crazy.

 

take some pics...

 

Yes, this has been a complaint out there but not just for the RX350 but also the RAV4 of the same vintage with the 3.5L engine. Two very common vehicles which require extraordinary measures to replace a common item which fails. It also seems to fail at a higher rate than it should.

 

I tore into it last night. Removed the RH and FR nuts off the motor mounts. Removed the No. 1 engine mounting bracket off the top front LH as well as a couple bolts from the mount on the rear of the engine in the wheel well. Placed about a foot long piece of 2x4 under the oil pan and jacked the engine up until the intake manifold nearly touched the top of the engine bay.

This gave me enough room to remove everything I needed to. I'm still stuck at the moment with a couple of bolts on the water pump. One is barely behind the tension pulley and the other is behind the pulley on the vane pump. Not sure of my next steps as of now.

 

What makes you feel that you need to replace water pump for 07?

 

I can take a picture to show you. It's pissing fluid down the block. Inside of the water pump pulley is caked. There's got to be something wrong with these. My IS350 did the same thing last year and it's a 2006.

I've been studying some diagrams, I think I can just remove the tensioner pulley (not the whole assembly). Will probably have to jack the engine back down a bit on the mounts before as I don't want it to shift. I think I may have to loosen a couple bolts on the vane pump and slide out a bit. Will keep you all updated if you're interested.

 

I don't know the mileage you have on this vehicle, but Lexus replaced the water pump on my 2007 in February 2013 under the power train warranty. No charge, mileage 60098.

 

It depends on the in service date. Doesn't matter - ours has ~75k miles.

 

Finished the R&R. Not a fun job at all. I'll try and work up a step by step.

 

Good for you. It would be certainly helpful if you can write down the steps. Pictures are always better.

 

No pictures, but I did create a little guide in another post with the manual diagrams and steps.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ater-pump.html