Well has anyone else had this problem yet with their water pumps on their 2008 Camry Base model 4cyl engine 5 speed manual shift.

I had to replace my water pump today. I have had this rattle noise and first we thought it was the belt tensioner barrings that had gone bad. But after getting the belt off and spinning the tensioner no noise or play in it. But the water pump sounded bad! It had a lot of play since the barrings were bad and on top of that it was leaking for some time now.

Pics included.

The one pic is the inside of the pulley system showing the baked on antifreeze that dried up on it. The other is the under part of the water pump. Most of the red coolant dropped off before i got the picture.

I also have 62 K miles on this car. These are all highway miles at that. Not like the car is working that hard while on cruise control on the interstate.

 

There have been some internet post about the WP failing at just over 60K.

Might ask at the Toyotanation website, more Camry owners.

 

Thank you for the reply. It is nice to know that i am not the only one.

 

mine went bad in my 08, probably around 60k I started hearing the noise. I ignored it for awhile. Car has 71k on it now and in the garage as we speak. $386 to repair.

I looked at trading it in, 3 years old, 71k... they offered $8500! what a slap in the face.

 

yesterday my dealer told me that the water pump is leaking and need to be replaced. Mine is 2008 camry, drove 21K on it. He told me to pay the first $100, the rest $400 toyota will pay. I am just wondering why it failed? Is it a problem with 2008 model?

 

Yes, water pump failure appears more common on models around this year. Most likely nothing you did.

If the car is still under extended warranty askToyota to pay all. If not this is most likely as good a deal as you are going to get thus suggest you take up the offer.

 

yes, My automatic 2008 Camry, not hybrid, had the belts and cracked water pump replaced at only 40,000 miles!!! not covered under warrantly, cost me around $800.00. since the repair man said this shouldn't happen till about 100K miles, if at all, I think there should be a recall. a letter to the regional Toyota office simply got forwarded to the local dealership. not helpful.

how does a problem get reported enough to become a recall? esp. if they don't retain letters of complaint?

also, the interior plastic is cracking. at 50,000 miles. this has never happened on any car, esp. foreign cars, i've owned. not happy with this Camry at all.

 

Recalls are for safety issues such as the steering wheel might come off due to improper steering wheel nut torque and sticky accelerator pedal issues. A water pump problem is not a safety issue.

Toyota can issue Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) for problems such as water pumps that fail prematurely. The TSB would have a repair procedure to follow with improved part number and may have something about warranty issues. Such as if the repair is covered under normal warranty or Toyota will extend the warranty period for this repair.

Toyota does not inform customers of these TSB's but will apply them if a customer complain of a problem that it applies to. How Toyota decides what issue needs a TSB is unknown. The company does tend to respond to the number of complaints and perhaps negative PR.

Is the car still under Toyota warranty? Who did the repairs? The 2007-8 did have a water pump problem. If the dealer did the repairs and still under warranty they are given you the brush off.

What difference does the pump estimated life make? Toyota uses extended coolant good for 100K miles and you as the driver can not possible affect pump life unless the pump drive belt was made to have extreme tension.

Toyota quality did drop in their quest to be No 1 in car output and keep prices low.

 

I just did the water pump on my car the other day with about 125K miles, not bad in my opinion. It is also not that bad a job if you are some what handy. The hardest part is the belt. I would not dream of paying $800 for this to be done.

 

Thanks for the replies, all. My Camry wasn't under regular warranty. i suppose i made a mistake by taking it to a shop other than the dealer, but if it wasn't covered, I knew it would cost less. as to an extended warranty, i've a s.n.a.f.u. i decided i didn't have the energy to pursue. I'd purchased an extended warranty at point of sale with the understanding it would be honored at all dealerships but when i went to the service dept. nearest my home, it wasn't on the computer. I was told then that the extended warranty applied only to the dealership at which i purchased the car. in emails to my original dealership, they said to write to the warranty company for a copy of the paperwork. the paperwork i rec'd. provided only a copy of the financing of the warranty, no actual warranty. the orig. Toyota dealer said i needed the warranty. In their defense, i never did take the car to them.
on the other hand, one email said that warranty was never submitted. i was about to call my District Attorney when they emailed back and said it HAD been submitted, but i needed the paperwork from the warranty company...which i can't get. i'd normally pursue further, but with family illness at the time i just gave up. emails to Gulf South Toyota (regional) were just fwd'd to Toyota of New Orleans; again, i have to admit i didn't pursue, nor did i take the car to them. but i shouldn't have to be the one to prove i paid nearly $2000 for a warranty.