Water Pump Seal Leak - Options?

[andymturner]

I've got a 2006 2.2 D4D 180PS engined Corolla Verso with 69,000 kms. At the last service (the big 36,000 mile one), my local Toyota garage (in France) notified me of a slight coolant leak from the water pump seal and said it wasn't urgent but would need an eye keeping on it with a view to changing before long. I think this could be quite an expensive job to get done chez Toyota and the car was just outside warranty when the fault was found. Grateful for advice on options: can I try a Holts Radseal type additive? I've heard these can do more damage in some engines and might not work for a seal failure. Is DIY an option or does it require special tools? Have you expereinced the same fault at a similar mileage and if so what was your solution?

[IainM]

I've got a 2006 2.2 D4D 180PS engined Corolla Verso with 69,000 kms. At the last service (the big 36,000 mile one), my local Toyota garage (in France) notified me of a slight coolant leak from the water pump seal and said it wasn't urgent but would need an eye keeping on it with a view to changing before long. I think this could be quite an expensive job to get done chez Toyota and the car was just outside warranty when the fault was found. Grateful for advice on options: can I try a Holts Radseal type additive? I've heard these can do more damage in some engines and might not work for a seal failure. Is DIY an option or does it require special tools? Have you expereinced the same fault at a similar mileage and if so what was your solution?

I don't know how difficult it is to get to the waterpump on a Verso but firstly it can be cheaper just to replace the pump than to have the old one rebuilt and secondly I would definitly avoid putting anything like rad-weld etc in the cooling system, not a good idea at all.

I would also get it sorted though because the next step is the seal will give way and when it does it'll drop a lot of coolant pretty quickly - probably when you have the engine under load and when its least convenient , like climbing a hill in the middle of nowhere at two o'clock in the morning!!