Watch your water pumps....

[kraky]

I had my 17,000 mile '06 avalon in under warranty to get a update after my check engine light went on. A reading of the code sent them to a bulletin telling them to replace 2 sensors and the exhaust manifold under warranty.
(yikes...I wasn't crazy about this cause my 36 mo warranty has just 2 mos to go).
Anyhow when it was in they also "noticed" my water pump was seeping. They also put a new water pump in under warranty. I asked if they've been having problems with that too and he said they've seen a "few".
So, if I can give you guys a heads up......when you have your car in for service have them keep an eye on the water pump...sounds like another potential problem area. This is my first toyota...and I know the brand has a great history....but my car is getting me nervous.

[91MR2quickNA]

Well emissions equipment is covered under a different warranty, so you wouldn't have had to pay either way. There should be 2 AFR sensors in each bank before the cat, and 2 O2 sensors in each bank after the cat. The AFR sensors are the more expensive ones, since they're wideband air-fuel ratio sensors and give more information to the ECU. They likely replaced the entire exhaust manifold because of the warm-up catalytic converter built into it (cat efficiency was probably low on that bank, hence a CEL). You can thank ULEV California emissions for that one, but also thank CA for the warranty on all emissions equipment.

Seepage on the water pump is likely from an installation error or faulty gasket. If it was redone right, it shouldn't give you any more issues. The 2GR is one of Toyota's best engines.

[kraky]

Well, I can tell you striaght out that they ARE NOT covering this repair under anything but the basic warranty even though they have a service bulletin out there and it effects 2006,2007 avy and Camry and some 2008 camry. It's only covered under the standard warranty. There was a poster on another forum that was in 36 months old but over 40 k and they wanted him to anti up $1800. I've seen other postings that Toyota won't cover sensors outside of warranty and it looks like they have problems in that area. For some reason the new sensors aren't lasting unless they put in the new exhaust manifold. (Not sure...maybe the old manifold is too close to the sensors?)
Not sure about the water pump but this whole thing is disappointing on a vehicle this new. We've been terribly cold up here in Wis this winter with temps in the -20's.....I can see that raising heck with gaskets but why not just replace the gasket instead of the whole water pump?

[the critic]

The scary part about water pump replacement on a 2GR-FE is that on some models, you have to remove the entire engine and transmission assembly in order to gain enough room to replace the water pump. This applies to the Camry.

On the Avalon, the repair can be done without engine removal.

[redditdm]

Originally Posted by the critic

The scary part about water pump replacement on a 2GR-FE is that on some models, you have to remove the entire engine and transmission assembly in order to gain enough room to replace the water pump. This applies to the Camry.

On the Avalon, the repair can be done without engine removal.

I'm not sure my water pump problem has anything to do with yours, but I just found out today when I went to my local Toyota dealership (for oil change) I "had to immediately" get my water pump replaced. They told me it was "cracked and leaking badly." They did take me out on the floor to look, but how would I know what I'm looking at?? I commute each day and felt I had no other choice. I have a 2007 Camry Hybrid with 67,000 miles. I asked the mechanic why it happened. He said he wasn't sure but had seen this "a lot." He said he'd even seen this happen on a Toyota that only had 15,000 miles on it. Immediately, a Red Flag went off in my head. He said this is a "common problem" with Toyota's. Really??? Umm, shouldn't it be fixed and not at the owner's expense? If anyone can help me research this mess, I would appreciate it.
Thank you much!