Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

[Prado Kid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prado Kid]

Hi, I,m a new member to Pradopoint, but have been a regular to the site for a long time.My Rigs done 180,000 km,s and I,ve owned it since new. I,ve just started to hear a bearing noise from the front of the engine & suspect it,s the Water pump. Has any one out there changed the pump themselves & is it a big job. I,ll be dropping the belts off one at a time to make sure it,s not the A/C or Power steer pump, but from the location of the noise it sounds like the Water Pump is just starting to go. Thanks for any info!

[jamdan146 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jamdan146]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

How did you go replacing the water pump?
Was it the water pump?
My Prado is making a noise from around that area the mechanic said the water pump is driver off the timing belt.
Cheers
John

[Prado Kid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prado Kid]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

Hi John, I haven't yet had the chance to repair the noise. It;s only minor at the moment and I,m not using the car as a daily driver at the moment. I managed to buy a Gregorys workshop manual from Supercheap Auto, and your right the pump is driven off the timing belt, so I,m guessing it;s the pump or idler pulley for the timing belt. Cheers.

[jamdan146 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jamdan146]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

The water pump packed it in lat week i gave it to nrma motor serv to replace the water pump, timing belt, fan belts. They found that the hydraulic tensioner for the timing belt was faulty as well they charged me $1100.00.
The car was running fine now I have another squeaky bearing from the same area when I drive at 6okm The noise goes away after about 45 min.

[Prado Kid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prado Kid]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

Finally ended up repairing the bearing noise from engine.
As was slowly getting worse.
Replaced the water pump, timing belt and idlers, tensioner plus belt.
Suspect that i,ll also have to replace the fan drive unit down the track.
They come as a complete unit only with fan hub and are $900 from Toyota.
Tried to find one aftermarket but no such luck. Cheers

[Chriso57 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chriso57]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

Finally ended up repairing the bearing noise from engine.
As was slowly getting worse.
Replaced the water pump, timing belt and idlers, tensioner plus belt.
Suspect that i,ll also have to replace the fan drive unit down the track.
They come as a complete unit only with fan hub and are $900 from Toyota.
Tried to find one aftermarket but no such luck. Cheers

If you are talking about the viscous coupling for the fan then search MickL's recent posts. He recently bumped an old post of his explaining how to overhaul those hubs for about $20 using fresh Toyota oil. Easy as job. I have done a couple myself. Also locked them up solid with silastic for underground mining Landcruisers :wink:

Chriso

[Prado Kid Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prado Kid]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

Thank,s Chriso,
It,s the actual fan drive unit that the viscous fan bolts up to, that is noisey.
This unit then bolts up to the front of the engine. Has anyone had to replace one &
can one be bought non genuine? I,ve tried a few places without success.

Regards, Martin

[VL400 Member Find all posts View Profile Close VL400]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

Had one of them die on a 3VZ-E 4 runner on Christmas day 2010. Had been noisy for awhile and then totally failed in one very loud bang and then heaps of noise - fan totally detached and only retained by the shroud, and the bearings from the unit destroyed the timing belt as they all dropped inside the timing belt cover. I would replace it ASAP! There are aftermarket ones for 4 runners so maybe they make them for Prado's too? A local mechanic did the work and sourced it, did not say where though sorry.

[smithyuno Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close smithyuno]

Re: Replacing Water Pump 3.4 V6

Just a friendly note to those who have recently replaced/had replaced the timing belt or water pump. If the Harmonic Balancer was removed make sure the retaining bolt has been torqued properly. The previous spec. was 148 Ft/lb and is now 217 Ft/lb. The "mechanic" who did mine obviously didn't!! Recently (18 months later) I lost power steering, pulled over and lifted the bonnet. The engine was still idling -I could hear it - but nothing was moving! The balancer was very loose and had sheared the key. I had absolutly no warning this was happening. The end of the crankshaft is now damaged and about 1mm smaller than original. Still have not decided how, or what, I am going to do. Any ideas welcome. So make sure that bolt is TIGHT. Regards Steve