[Oppa]

Excellent recap

btwn this thread, pics and Car Care Nut tutorials and bleeding procedures it was a successful day. Replaced the thermostat w/another AISIN thermostat & seal while i was at it.

The original water pump failed @87K miles. . Ridiculous for a Toyota. It really should be a recall.
It was making screeching and grinding noises for a few days and then suddenly one day it just sprung a leak from the pump's drain hole

Anyone else doing this just be sure to get the upgraded AISIN water pump. It has the cut outs design where the pulley bolts onto. Not the fully round older style w/the inadequate bearing.


All in ALL it took roughly 4-5 hours R&R.
Hardest part was paying for 3 gallons of Toyota coolant ($87+ in current market) at the dealership and finding thin enough torque wrench to get the pulley bolts. USE metric 12mm Crows foot adapter! works like a charm.

Dealership wanted $1,800. Probably a bit more once fees & taxes are calculated.
I spent around $225 on parts and extra tools I didn't have.

 

[Oppa]

Car Care Nut tutorials are very helpful as well;

 

[sbihue]

Anyone else doing this just be sure to get the upgraded AISIN water pump. It has the cut outs design where the pulley bolts onto. Not the fully round older style w/the inadequate bearing.

Any pic of the upgraded AISIN pump!!

 

[Oppa]

my original from 2016 XLE w/87K miles.

The one I order for my 2016 was "AISIN WPT803" from RockAuto. $94 USD

if you order it outside Toyota dealership, such as RockAuto, you'll notice that the "TOYOTA" has been etched off. That's only so they can sell as a third party. From my understanding, it IS the exact part as from dealership.



it is as @jseyfert3 posted in #31
the newer AISIN version is the bottom one vs the original that has the round pulley purchase that connects to the impeller through the bearing. They supposedly upgraded the bearing & bearing seal to a sturdier one.

credit: jseyfert3

 

[michaelvbrown]

Excellent recap

btwn this thread, pics and Car Care Nut tutorials and bleeding procedures it was a successful day. Replaced the thermostat w/another AISIN thermostat & seal while i was at it.

The original water pump failed @87K miles. . Ridiculous for a Toyota. It really should be a recall.
It was making screeching and grinding noises for a few days and then suddenly one day it just sprung a leak from the pump's drain hole

Anyone else doing this just be sure to get the upgraded AISIN water pump. It has the cut outs design where the pulley bolts onto. Not the fully round older style w/the inadequate bearing.


All in ALL it took roughly 4-5 hours R&R.
Hardest part was paying for 3 gallons of Toyota coolant ($87+ in current market) at the dealership and finding thin enough torque wrench to get the pulley bolts. USE metric 12mm Crows foot adapter! works like a charm.

Dealership wanted $1,800. Probably a bit more once fees & taxes are calculated.
I spent around $225 on parts and extra tools I didn't have.

Agreed, my original failed right around the 100K mark. The autozone supplied Aisin replacement has lasted me 125K so far. I guess they improved the design. Only difference in my repair was I used the zerex asian coolant.

 

[Oldwolf]

Lordy, I fear this day when it comes for my 2015. Remember when water pumps were small six bolt affairs that easily attached to the front of your V8?

 

[sbihue]

Any one knows the difference between this Aisin Thermostat vs the Gates Premium. Both are rated at 180 deg. What's so special about the heavy duty one from Gates

Thanks

 

[jseyfert3]

USE metric 12mm Crows foot adapter! works like a charm.

One quick note: If you use a crow's foot adapter on a normal torque wrench (one with a square socket attachment), it will change the torque applied to the bolt. I'd have to draw some free body diagrams to be sure, but my gut feeling is the difference in torque will be the distance from the center of the bolt the crow's foot adapter is rotating to the center of the torque wrench handle over the distance from the center of where you'd attached a socket to the torque wrench to the center of the torque wrench handle.

In other words, if you have a 12" long torque wrench, and you put a crow's foot adapter that adds 2" of length, then the torque you tighten the bolts to would be the setpoint/displayed torque of the torque wrench multiplied by 14/12. So a 20 ft-lb torque setting would apply 23.3 ft-lbs of torque to the bolt. Again I'm not 100% sure this is exactly right, but it should be something in this neighborhood.

It's probably not a big deal. Just something to keep in mind. This only caught my eye because we had this exact issue at work, for a certain application where we were tightening certain fittings to a specific torque and needed an open-ended wrench. Initially we used a normal torque wrench and crow's foot adapter, and calculated for and adjusted the torque wrench setpoint to account for the length of the crow's foot adapter. This adjustment to the torque value was different for every size of crow's foot adapter we put on the torque wrench, since bigger opening meant longer distance from center of bolt to torque wrench. Eventually we bought a special torque wrench that accepted special opened ended wrench fittings. All opened ended wrench fittings of different sizes had a different length stub sticking out to correct for the size of the bolt the wrench was used on, so the rotating length from center of bolt to torque wrench stayed the same regardless of if you have a 1 1/2" wrench end or a 5/8" wrench end attached.

Lordy, I fear this day when it comes for my 2015. Remember when water pumps were small six bolt affairs that easily attached to the front of your V8?

No. I'm too young probably. The only V8 I ever owned was my 2020 Silverado 1500, and I'm not sure where the water pump was, but I what I am certain of is replacing it wouldn't be easy still. Probably easier than on the Sienna, but I wouldn't be surprised if the procedure required you to remove the front bumper assembly and radiators...

Actually before I posted this I did a quick search. I'm not far off. You have to remove various coolant lines, including engine oil cooler line, remove the fuse block housing. Then you can remove the entire radiator fan assembly, followed by the alternator before you can unbolt and remove the water pump. At least you aren't working in the super tight constraints of the side of the engine like the Sienna but it's still not exactly easy and fast:

Any one knows the difference between this Aisin Thermostat vs the Gates Premium. Both are rated at 180 deg. What's so special about the heavy duty one from Gates

Thanks

I don't know. I don't recall seeing any issues with thermostats. I just got the Aisin one.

 

[happycamper]

I'll add my advice for the water pump install.

Attach the gasket to the new pump using wire twists from bread bags, or small zip ties through each bolt hole. Once the water pump is in position, remove one wire twist or zip tie and replace it with a loosely tightened bolt. Repeat this until all the bolts are installed.

I installed my water pump, only to have coolant pour out when the vehicle was started. The gasket had folded back in one of the corners when I tried to install it, and I didn't notice this. I had to repeat the entire install with a new gasket.

 

[booya]

Just completed the job today on 2015 Sienna with 115k miles.. Thank you @jseyfert3 for this amazing post. It gave me the confidence to do this job with no surprises.
Took me about 10 hours. I chose to do some additional items: Radiator hoses, thermostat, and bearing replacement of the tensioner pulley. Idler pulley does NOT fit Gates 36173 as the diameter hole in the Gates is too wide so that will have to be done another day if at all.

I'll throw in some additional tips:
1- The Car Care Nut video on this is essential. All the torque specs and many tips along the way.
2- I lost about 45 minutes trying to get that lower bracket off stuck on that 5th bolt. Frustrating. Lifting the engine was critical to clearing the bolts, and was relatively easy. I used a piece of wood close to the oil pan bolt. 5 bolts total.

3- Tools I wouldn't do without: Icon long double ratchet set (ebay), a good working light (Makita LED for the win!), a long 3/8 & 1/4 dual ratchet from HF, and my favorite ever.. Hose clamp tool:

4- My pump and gasket came with a rubber band. I kept the rubber band ON to keep the gasket and pump together. I lightly threaded on 2 bolts then cut the rubber band off.

Cost breakdown..bold is things that can be used on other projects if needed to convince the missus. I already had a jack, jack stands, floor jack.:

I'm sure this would be north of $2k to have it done.. Got to take my time, and use top of the line parts as well - including the "updated" 4 leaf clover pump that doesn't fail as soon as the other.. I didn't want to take the risk with Rockauto as the AISIN one showed the old design. Mine was 150 shipped from Japan via Amazon.