kanoever

SO first time posting here.

I just replace my water pump in my 2008 RX 350. I did not pull the engine or lift it. The job took me 2 days. I had a lot of problem with the motor mount on top of the engine. I had one bolt that would not come out so i cut it off. I can not remember how many bolts are in the motor mount that is attached to the motor it self but one of them is very long and will not come all the way out of the engine to be able to lift the mount out of the car. So i just cut it off. Befor you start the project remove that ac line that is right in front of motor. It will save you a lot of time. You need to get the motor mount off the engine to get to bolts that go to water pump. You also have to remove 3 roller to get to bolts to the water pump. The pulley that attaches to the water pump will not be able to remove it untill you pull the water pump out of the car. You will have to remove the 4 bolts to the pulley to so move around to access the bolts to the water pump. after you do all this you should be able to pull the water pump and the pulley up and out. It will not be easy but you should be able to lift it out.

I have read alot of post that say you need to change your coolant or the pump goes bad. I found that the bearing in the pump that went bad. so the leak was coming from around the shaft of the water pump. I had about 120000 miles on this car.

The pump and parts and the recharge of ac cost me around 300. IF someone had this done by Lexus how much did it cost you?

I wanted to post this to find out if this is a common problem. SO let me know if you had this service done?

RX330inFL

Welcome to Club Lexus, kanoever.

Much like the water pump on the similar 3.5L engine in the RAV4, sounds like the water pump replacement is a real bear. A lot of complaints over in the Toyota forums on the RAV4 water pump matter. Am sure others can jump in who are better versed on the particulars of your post regarding the 2nd Generation RX350. In the meantime, you might want to have a read through the DIY posted here at CL regarding this job:

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

msL80bug

having water pumped replaced today at dealership...$895.00

HSVRX350

Turns out my water pump also let go at 125K miles, it was leaking coolant. Before it went, there was a squeaking belt noise for a good 200 miles. Not loud noise but within hearing bareable limits when you are driving. Had the water pump and new belt put on. It was quiet as a church mouse for 1,000 miles and one morning the same noise came up again. I put belt conditioner on it hoping it would quiet down since possibility the new belt. So took it to Toyota shop and replaced the tensioner pulley since we can see it was misbehaving. Got that replaced. Guess what it did not resolve the squeaking noise. It only comes on when you put it into Drive which is putting a load on it. Same noise even if the A/C was on or off. It does not get louder or noisier. Toyota thinks it is the bottom idle pulley (#2) that needs to replace but not sure if it would resolve since they blame that it's Lexus parts. The squeak isn't that bad but you can hear it when it idles in Drive mode. The noise goes away when the car is in motion. I am thinking it could be the alternator that could be next?