LC200 Water Pump Joy

Hi everyone,

Some of you may wonder what else I get up to apart from sitting in a corner with the nerd propeller spinning on the top of my head writing web code, apps and doing mapping. Well after my last visit to Toyota for service (which is another story), I was told the water pump had a minor leak and needed about $1k to replace it. I was not keen to be paying for what seemed like 4-6 hours of labor and parts so went about ordering in a new water pump, a good old Haynes Repair manual and associated service items like (all filters, oil, coolant etc).

I did the job over the last weekend in a complete self isolation in my garage. It was great, so great in fact that after I put the whole thing back together and was flushing the radiator with tap water I noticed the new pump gasket did not seal. Darn, I had to do it all again and trust me you get soooo much better the second time around. The manual goes away and the tools and part fly around, unlike the tentative first time.

I must admit being a little apprehensive with the twin turbo V8 engine as there is not much room in there and the front end is high and hard to get into with bull bars etc. But small ladders help and I am 6'2" and still needed a ladder.

Here are some pics of my fun filled weekend:


Overall I was really happy to get this job done (twice even), one of the things I think is very important as a solo traveler is confidence and knowledge of what is sitting under the bonnet and each time you undertake a job like this you learn more about your vehicle.

Propeller back on in the office now working on apps and maps again - ho hum.