Water Pump 1 failure on 2012

[LeftieBiker]

I'd say five years on the coolant, and do the transaxle fluid at the same time. Likewise if the brake lines haven't been flushed, those too.

[powersurge]

I am not surprised that the pump went out... An electrical pump that is spinning all the time while the car is on is a lot of use. I would not say that there is a problem with the car. So now we are starting to find normal wear items on the Leaf!

I can also imagine the electric steering and power brake assist at some time in the future...

[av8or]

I agree the little electric pump is a maintenance type item, as it will wear out. However, the price for them is nuts. I suspect it is because there are so few of these cars, but it really is just a 12v pump.

[alozzy]

The challenge with using another 12V pump with similar specs is that you're out of pocket if it doesn't work out.

If it was me, I'd take the risk if I could get a 12V pump for less than $100.

[Nubo]

21581-3NA0A is the part I ordered from E-Bay. Price is crazy for it. I noticed that some VW Jettas have 12v waterpumps too, but they cost about $40. The markup on these simple pumps is insane.

From what I can see, those are referred to as "auxiliary water pumps", so the specs and duty requirements may be a different ballgame compared to a full-time electric coolant pump. I find multiple versions of the latter; all over $200.

[Newporttom]

I just had the #1 water pump replaced at dealer. Set me back $1,071

[palmermd]

21581-3NA0A is the part I ordered from E-Bay. Price is crazy for it. I noticed that some VW Jettas have 12v waterpumps too, but they cost about $40. The markup on these simple pumps is insane.

Thanks for sharing the part number. I have the same error and issue with the water pump on my 2011. I think I'll try a scrap yard for the pump first before shelling out the big bucks at a dealer or another source for new pumps.

[etunnel]

Thank you for the information on this forum. I successfully changed the pump on my 2011 Leaf and saved $1K allegedly. (I've never brought my car to deal to get estimate.) Especially, given how little value old Leaf is nowadays. This is big saving. I am not a mechanically inclined person. This work took me nearly 3 hours to finish.

My best contribution I can make to this forum is that I bought a compatible pump at much lower price ($126 from Ebay). It works perfectly fine. The part number of the pump I got is 21580-3JV0A. It is designed for 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Infinity QX60 Auxiliary according to the ebay seller description. The pump is the same. The bracket is different. The bracket is secured to the pump with a removable rubber sock around the pump. I removed the bracket and used the pump only.

New pump with bracket



New pump side-by-side comparison with old pump



Old pump Old pump slipped out of the rubber bracket very easily. I didn't even need to remove the pump bracket from the car.



New pump without bracket





Coolant pumped out from reservoir





The toughest part is to disconnect pipe. I ended up just using force. The reservoir container seems to be strong enough. I had to remove both pipes to get enough space to work with.

Reservoir container without pipe.



Metal brackets to clamp around pipe that are both easy and tough to work with.





I tied threads around the pipe clamp when reinstalling so that it wouldn't drop into the abyss of the chassis. It appears to be difficult to fish the dropped clamp out. I liked this hack even though I've never lost a single one through out the installation. Better be safe than sorry.




I hope this pump will last as long as my car.

Good luck with your ad

[alozzy]

Awesome write-up! This is the sort of post that keeps me coming back to these forums. Hope I never have to replace my water pump, but I feel confident now that I can DIY it.

[cwerdna]

Thank you for the information on this forum. I successfully changed the pump on my 2011 Leaf and saved $1K allegedly. (I've never brought my car to deal to get estimate.) Especially, given how little value old Leaf is nowadays. This is big saving. I am not a mechanically inclined person. This work took me nearly 3 hours to finish.

My best contribution I can make to this forum is that I bought a compatible pump at much lower price ($126 from Ebay). It works perfectly fine. The part number of the pump I got is 21580-3JV0A. It is designed for 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Infinity QX60 Auxiliary according to the ebay seller description. The pump is the same. The bracket is different. The bracket is secured to the pump with a removable rubber sock around the pump. I removed the bracket and used the pump only.

Great info!

I wonder of the pump was intended for hybrid versions of the above two. It looks like there once was a hybrid version of the QX60 and there was a hybrid version of the '14 Pathfinder.