"Moist" water pump - time to replace at 88,000 miles?

My usual mechanic for my 2005 Tacoma said it is moist around the water pump, indicating some degree of leakage, so he suggests replacing soon. Toyota 101 in Redwood City recommended the same over the phone. I've monitored the coolant level the last 3 weeks and it has gone down in the plastic reservoir by about 2 inches. Is it wise to change the water
pump soon or safe to "baby" it along another 2,000-5,000 miles or more? If it does fail,
am I likely to get enough warning to prevent possible engine damage or would I be "playing with fire"? Thanks for your thoughts! (I've had the Tacoma about a year since my 97 Subaru Outback was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver, and I have been quite happy with it so far!
I'm new to the "World" and this is my first post. I wish I could say I have mad mechanical skills but ... I used to be quite good at basketball! Go Warriors!)

 

Get it fixed now and save yourself the hassle later. When it does go, it won't be at the right time.

 

If you have the money and the time, do it now.

If you're planning a long trip soon, do it before then.

But if you don't have the time or money to do the job now, and all your trips are local, just keep an eye on it. Put saving for a new one at the top of your list.

Meantime, open the hood and give it a visual inspection from above and below, checking belt tension and the amount of play in the water pump belt wheel. Odds are fairly good you can get some more time out of it.

But that strategy can leave you stranded. I had one car that stopped a mile from where I could work on it. By that point - the water pump was pretty loud though. :-/

 

PS: My Tacoma water pump went at around 60,000 or 70,000 miles. Can't remember which.

 

Wow. This is pretty messed up. Makes me want to CLOSELY monitor mine based on all these 60-70k stories. Good old GM quality.

OP. Watch it like a hawk if you can't replace it now. The heat is approaching and with that radiators pop, ac compressors quit and water pumps go. Cars do not like being in hot environments.

 

My wife's went out with 65k but that was on her HEEP. Her car never sees the highway much either. 09 with 70k. Like moose said keep and eye on it. When the pulley starts to wobble it's probably time to change. You could pull it and maybe get a new seal if the pump is ok.

 

Mine made it to 135k before it started building a stalagmite inside the pulley. The overflow jug kept getting low and I just kept filling it wondering where it was going. Saw nothing until the stalagmite starting getting big enough to catch a peak at it from just the right angle. But it was dry looking. Went ahead and bought the pump and when I got around to changing it I found the scope of the secret project it was working on was bigger than I thought..............




Also an Easter egg I found during the swap was that the belt tensioner pulley was about shot. Had freewheeling spin to it and some side to side deflection. No noise and still spun smoothish but had to score one of those and swapped it out the following wknd. Yea for no stranding. I had been on road trip before finding the secret project it was building, coulda been worse. Also a word to the wise, just buy the oem pump and get the nice factory rubber coated steel gasket. I bought a different pump and it came with shitty paper gasket and the Felpro one I bought separately was junk too, just paper with a bead of sealer on one side. Couldn't bring myself to use that crap. Took it and got money back. Auto parts one was $40 cheaper but piece of mind with the factory part and especially gasket was worth it to me.

 

Getting my frame swapped out next week. 95,000 miles on it. This is something im considering having them do..... probably a good time to do it.

 

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback on my water pump question!
I've decided to go ahead and have it replaced tomorrow for $545 by a mechanic
I trust after he fixed my mom's Volvo problems that no one else could figure out.
Next week I'm getting my leaf springs replaced for free by Toyota 101 in Redwood
City as part of their recall of my 2005 and other years. I assume I can trust them
to do that correctly...

 

Good call. :thumbs:

 

No way. Never assume or trust dealership work. Verify after work has been done. Erroring on the side of safety for your truck = always be skeptical and check behind anyone else working on it

My wife thought I was playing when I showed her the wp gasket. She knew I was serious when I showed her my gasket.

 

................and damn, that's a bunch of coin. The oem pump was $135 when I did mine. Wasn't that big of a job. Simple really. Added a flush/fill kit for flushing coolant and dumped the 135k original coolant. Don't go this long folks, It was clean but that coolant was weak sauce after that long. Replaced with some Peak extended mileage good fresh stuff.

 

Water pump gasket or "your gasket?"

 

I'll just go with........she likes my parts. Car/truck parts, not so much.