Hi,

I'm planning to change the waterpump soon. I'm wondering what other things should I replace down there? Things I'm thinking about

- thermostat
- thermostat housing?

Any other tips for preventive maintenance? I'm not planning on changing any of the pulleys as I think they are still in good condition

 

I would also change the thermostat and thermostat housing gasket with a new water pump.

 

Replace the Serpentine belt and check out the automatic belt tensioner and idler pulleys, or consider replacing them at the same time. I think there are kits with all of those pieces.

This video shows a great way to bleed the cooling system of air.
This thread has links to a video tutorial on how to replace the water pump. It is a lot of work:https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ater-pump.html

 

To bleed my RX350 of coolant system of air when I drained out the old coolant from the radiator recently I used the same type of funnel in the video, but just opened the bleeder port screw and then closed the port while the engine is warmed up to release any trapped air pockets with the climate setting turned to high and topped off the funnel until the bubbles stopped appearing in funnel and the coolant level became steady and hot air started to blow out of the AC vents.

The special type of bleeder/fill funnel used in the video tend to bleed air out the coolant system on its own without the extra step of connecting an hose from the bleeder port to the fill funnel. However, I did have an hose connected to the bleeder port that drained the coolant to a container when I opened it. You only need to open the bleeder to help release any trapped air pockets during the filling process if you notice no bubbles in the filling funnel or the heat is not working.

The Car Car Nut method is not necessary, but I assume it works.

 

​​​@carguy75 Thank you for your response! I take it the thermostat housing itself doesn't need to be replaced?

That's pretty interesting, thanks for the remark. This method does look a lot simpler to use.

 

The housing do not need to replaced unless it is damaged.