Water Pump replacement?

Hi -

The yellow "EV System Warning Light" & the yellow "Master Warning Light" appeared on our 2011 LEAF last week. The car has driven & charged fine (110V) since then. Brought it to our local Nissan dealer who says it's code "51NIZ02" and says 1 of 2 water pumps failed. They recommend replacing the broken water pump & want to charge $1,291 (+taxes & shop fees).

Do we need to replace the broken water pump when the other pump is working fine? Is $1,290 a reasonable price? Are there any non-Nissan repair shops in Houston with experience servicing a LEAF? It seems excessive to me, however I don't have a reference.

Two possible coincidences:
1. Car is & has always lived in Houston TX & wasn't flooded by Hurricane Harvey, however lights appeared right after the storm. Is it at all possible something storm-related have caused the water pump failure?
2. We switched electrical outlets we charge from about a month ago; current outlet is farther from house & required a 25 ft extension cord. One night about 2 weeks ago this tripped the breaker (15 amp, I believe)

A few other notes on our LEAF:
45,000 miles (99.9% charging on 110V)
EV battery replaced under warranty in 2015
Otherwise, only annual scheduled maintenance thusfar

Any comments/opinions welcome,
Rob

Howdy, neighbor. My story is very similar, but with a 2013 model. The Nissan dealership near my office here on I-45 North has been unable to even look at it for two weeks, between all the Harvey repairs, and just this morning, when they were finally going to dig in, their only Leaf tech called in sick. So I'm looking for other options as it is. But if I'm looking at a $1300 job, I'm definitely looking for other options.

The pump seems easy to access and straightforward to remove and replace. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just install it myself.

I gather these pumps circulate coolant in the charging system, both when charging from mains and during regen. On two occasions, it appears charging ended early, so I suspect lack of coolant circulation can lead to overheating that causes the charging system to shut down. I'm eager to get this fixed, for that reason. I don't want to be relying on the safety mechanism to prevent damage.

However, I'm charging L2, 24 amps, much faster than your L1 13 amps, so it wouldn't surprise me that you've been getting by because the heat buildup is lower with the slower rate of charge.

Here is my experience with it. I replaced it myself, didn't want to deal with dealer.

http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=24152&p=498470&hilit=waterpump#p498149

I doubt it is related to Harvey. The pump I replaced was on top of passenger fender, so relatively high up and protected. The pump is very similar to a washing machine pump or other small electric pump.

Good luck with the decision, finding part may be biggest challenge. LEAFSpy Pro will give exact error which should show which pump (of the 2) failed.