Water Pump Failure

pgarner

pgarner

TC ModFather
Points
417
Location
Lockerbie, SW Scotland
Car
Octy smoke machine
:evil::evil:!!!!!!!!!!!!!ARHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:evil::evil:
think i am suffering from the dreaded water pump failure on the VW engines. Basically the impeller is plastic and has a habit of breaking off the shaft. shaft spins but the impellers just sitting floating there.
Basically i was sitting behind someone the day doing the usual OB syndrome ( sitting at 40 on a clear stretch in a 60 ) moved out to pass, passed and pulled back in doing 70. looked down at the temp gauge and it was sitting up at 120 degrees, slackened off and it slowly came back down to 90. at the next hill put the foot down a bit for the hill and watched it rise again.

Has anyone had theres replaced if so how much did it cost ?
might as well look at changing the cam belt as well as its due in under 10k, pumps run of the timing belt.
 
Makes sense to change the cam belt as well. How frustrating if the water pump has gone AWOL. Does anyone sell uprated ones or offer reconditioning?
 
been told that you can get metal ones which do last a lot longer. However there not a vw part
going to give the local specialist a shout later on see if he can have a look at it.
 
Ok had a nice long chat with a the local specialists after phoning VW in carlise (never going near my local one at dfs for any work) both reckoned the water pump is knackered, and both advised changing the timing belt as it should be done every 4 years or 60k
When asked about the metal versions VW said they knew nothing about them and therefore wouldnt advise fitting them. also wanted £450, and going by some other conversations with them i dont think they include vat
Garage said they had dealt with the metal ones but they werent any better, they also said that VW have changed the design of the pump itself and it seems a lot stronger now. would be looking at around £300-£350 inc vat.
now that seems slightly dear for a water pump, but that does include pump, new coolant, timing belt, all tensioners and rollers and labour.

Ohh well bye bye money that i had saved up. that and holiday means ill no be going out drinking this month :sad2:

And no car until monday morning
 
Wait on - see if there is a newer model in the local scrappy or on ebay and get a used part.

Is there an equivalent Audi part no which works out stronger/better? Perhaps one from the S3?
 
nah with something like that id want a new one fitted, dont want to go through the hassle of getting it changed and back together just for a few months. timing belt needs done anyway as its over 5 year old.
done a search on vagcat before to see if there was uprated pumps. part number should b 06B121011EX which covers just about every engine.
from basic 1.8 through S3
 
The old Audi Coupe 5 pot engines had aluminium water pumps - these pathetic plastic things are really going to let VAG down.

Just waiting for mine to go now! Whats your mileage like?
 
Thats outragious. A friend with an A4 didn't need to do his until 124,000 it wasn't a turbo but has the same 1.8 block as ours do.

Ah well they call this progress.

Time to look and get tempted by electric water pumps. They speed adjust with temperature rather than engine revs and they also don't exert drag on the engine other than the modest current drain on the alternator.

I think if mine went I would certainly look into an electric alternative although I think getting a custom cam belt will be a pain.
 
might be an idea to fit an electric one and if possible leave the pulley in place so that the cam belt would just be the same.
Its supposed to be changed every time along with the timing belt so leaving it till 124k is risking it a bit
 
I think he'd done the timing belt.

My book says the cam belt is changed after 90,000 miles which seems a bit steep to me. So I got it done at 50,000 and will do so again at 80,000. I guess this means I should get my water pump changed at the same time then.
 
Yeah got it done on monday but only just got the bill today as his accountant wasnt in

£307 - timing belt, rollers, tensioner, water pump (obviously), collant, new fan belt as he noticed its tensioner was at max and 5 hours work so not that bad. think my local VW garage is around £90 an hour labour

its great water is now sitting perfectly on the 90 C mark and oil holding 190-200 F
car also fells quicker to rev now.
Hopefully it will last another 5 years
 
A water pump should really last more than 5 years! Can't believe VAG get away with this! I'm worried cos mine is getting on for 8 years old!
 
the water pump went in the polo (just a week after I forked out £600 for a new gearbox i might add), local garage did it for £110. Weird thing was, temperature never got that hot, only noticed something strange when there was no heat coming from the vents
 
You must have been driving it carefully then Stevie!

I thought you were selling it? Did you get the gear ratios sorted out or are you just living with it.
 
yeah, i was so fed up with it i tried to sell on ebay and autotrader but all i got was a conman. about ten emails or so that were insulting to my intellegence, they wanted to send me a cheque for the price of the car plus £2000 extra which i then took out my account and gave to a courier who shipped the car overseas. :confused: as if i was going to fall for that.

thanks for asking, yeah couldnt get anywhere with the garage that fitted the box, insisted it was for the 1.4 engine. cant find anywhere else thats able to check the ratios. ended up fitting a set of big wheels which has lowered the revs a bit and just living with it until i can afford a new car. wont be VW again! Annoyingly though Ive always wanted an Audi so I'll end up giving them my money anyway! Good to hear from you all again!
 
You'll be wanting a car from the Audi Vauxhall group then! :lol: It was a good idea to go with bigger wheels to alter the ratio.
 
I just noticed this thread. I was told by my local dealer the other day one of the VW Passat (I think it was passat onyl not sure) had a recall for water pump. surely if this is a known issue and there are recalls then the cost should be covered by VW??
 
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