vRS is poorly :(

[FluffyEyeball]

Well... maybe not THAT poorly..

 

Anyway, a while ago I noticed that my coolant was low, about 2cm below the minimum mark when cold, slowly lowering over time/miles. I bought the car at about 7000-8000 miles, and it's now done about 12500, so in that time it's dropped from being correct (as i checked when it was bought) to where it is now. Oh, and the coolant-warning light appeared the other day too, albeit temporarily which I though was odd as it hasn't re-appeared.

 

I considered this to be a potentially significant loss, so contacted dealer number 1... They advised that sometimes the level does drop and that it should be topped up with plain water and see how it goes, if it drops again then book it in. This I did not do, and told them I was not happy with that as:

1) Putting water in it will alter the concentration, so it'll only have to be checked by Skoda anyway;

2) Altering the concentration beyond it's recommended parameters could be Skoda's excuse to void the warranty;

3) At 8000 miles and beyond, the coolant should not drop by noticeable amounts as it's a sealed system, any significant loss can be indicative of a leak (this is also backed up by the manual, which recommends the system be checked in this case).

 

They said that was fine and they'd look at it, but they can't fit it in for the next few weeks as they're busy. 

 

So I left, and went to dealer number 2...who so far (hope I don't regret saying this later) have been fabulous. Told them the problem, they immediately booked it in within the week (none of this "fill it with water and see how it goes" nonsense) and they provide a courtesy car for the duration of the check/repair.

 

So as of yesterday morning my vRS has been at the mercy of RRG, and I drove away in a (I must say, quite fantastic) little Fabia.

 

They phoned yesterday afternoon to say that they had found a leak, it was one of the two water pumps (or rather, the casing of one of them), and they need to order the part(s) and fit it. Won't be ready until Monday at the earliest, as it's a reasonably large job to do; but in all honestly i'd rather them take time to do it properly than rush it and bodge something.

 

I might phone later and just see where things are up to and if it's going OK (or is that mithering a little too much...??) 

 

Also, does anyone know why they have two water pumps? I've read they have a way of cooling the turbo after you switch the engine off, but I thought that was with oil? The service man at Skoda wasn't sure either  :think:

[Defenderben]

I would let them get on with it, they said should be done by Monday.. Leave it until they ring you, they won't keep your car any longer than they have to, they need the space and will need the courtesy car back for someone else.

[sworrall]

I've just had mine recovered to the dealer this morning with a failed water pump :(

[FluffyEyeball]

What happened, had it failed completely or was it leaking?

[sworrall]

What happened, had it failed completely or was it leaking?

on a dual carriageway doing 70 and got lots of red warnings saying switch off engine overheated. Temp gauge was in the red so I blasted some heat out the fans and it started going down while I pulled over. Skoda assist advised not to drive then it got towed. There was no coolent loss.

Assist and the dealer were very good in sorting me out but I was on the way to work for an office move so have to go tomorrow now :(

[decuk]

Mine has around 14000 on clock. Last Sunday the coolant level indicator came on. Pulled over. Switched off, re started and all was fine. Popped to dealer Monday morning. Said it was slightly low, so topped it up and said to keep an eye on it. If it re occurs, come back and they'll pressure test it etc.

[meb90]

My diesel VRS does seem to be using a small amount of coolant. Never enough to cause a warning light, and I have topped it up with distilled water and G13 coolant. If it uses much more I'll mention it to the dealer. Mines 25,000 miles old.

[neiln]

It's a common problem with the vrs tsi. Search and you will find a few mentions.. I've had to top mine up several times, had it pressure tested but nothing found.... Waiting for it drop again before igo back again.

[FluffyEyeball]

It's a common problem with the vrs tsi. Search and you will find a few mentions.. I've had to top mine up several times, had it pressure tested but nothing found.... Waiting for it drop again before igo back again.

Aye, when I dropped it off the bloke said that they had a water pump in stock just in case it's that that's the problem. Very specific considering they hadn't even clapped eyes on the car, so they must have seen quite a lot with the same issue.

Turns out it was the pump they didn't have in that is faulty...but nevermind :p

[butchvrs]

Is this going to be a repartition of the water pump failures suffered by the Mk1 VRS with the AUQ 1800 20V engine?

 

Very common fault on those, the plastic impeller would break up and jam the pump, however in doing so it would strip the cambelt and worst case destroy the head!

[loadswine]

I have had the water level drop a couple of times on mine, triggering the low coolant warning light, topped it up both times and its been fine so far over 14000 miles, but I suspect mine has this same issue. Think I will get it checked soon.

[MoggyTech]

I wonder if the TSI uses the same type of water pump as the TDI. The diesel water pump has a fast warm up solenoid to stop the pump turning as the engine warms up.

In any case, Skoda cars do seem to have a 'history' of chucking coolant out, but it's usually the header tank or just the header tank cap that fails.

[sworrall]

a very random thing happened.  I was messaging my mate about breaking down whilst waiting for skoda assist to come out.  He also has a mk3 vas tdi and the usual jokes were passed around about Friday build etc.

 

A few hours later after I'd gotten back from the dealer with my loan car he phones me in a panic and a "what was that error on your car etc".  Turns out his has just done the exact same thing has mine! Same overheating message on the maxi dot with advice to turn off the engine.

 

He managed to restart and drive a short distance home with the heaters on full and his car is currently on the drive waiting to be picked up in the morning to go to the same dealers as mine with a failed water pump!  :-/

[neiln]

ive had mine drop from max to min ( and topped back up with 50:50 mix of g13 and water) twice in 9600 miles.  was checked and pressure tested when serviced at 7something, Nothing found so no further investigation authorised but told to leave it/not top it up as it drops and bring in again when below min.  i assume that will be enough for SUK to authorise a strip to find the fault.  i have found it drops very slowly now, much more slowly than when the car was first new, although some of that may have been a bit of air in the system perhaps.

[FluffyEyeball]

a very random thing happened.  I was messaging my mate about breaking down whilst waiting for skoda assist to come out.  He also has a mk3 vas tdi and the usual jokes were passed around about Friday build etc.

 

A few hours later after I'd gotten back from the dealer with my loan car he phones me in a panic and a "what was that error on your car etc".  Turns out his has just done the exact same thing has mine! Same overheating message on the maxi dot with advice to turn off the engine.

 

He managed to restart and drive a short distance home with the heaters on full and his car is currently on the drive waiting to be picked up in the morning to go to the same dealers as mine with a failed water pump!  :-/

 

How odd.... hope you both get it sorted with minimum fuss 

 

Does anyone know what the odds are of damage to the rest of the engine if the water pumps have been leaking? I understand the pump(s) are housed with the timing chain? So if leaky then water will end up in the oil? Although I hadn't seen any evidence of that on the dipstick/oil filler cap, or of oil in the expansion tank.

[Gabbo]

a very random thing happened.  I was messaging my mate about breaking down whilst waiting for skoda assist to come out.  He also has a mk3 vas tdi and the usual jokes were passed around about Friday build etc.

 

A few hours later after I'd gotten back from the dealer with my loan car he phones me in a panic and a "what was that error on your car etc".  Turns out his has just done the exact same thing has mine! Same overheating message on the maxi dot with advice to turn off the engine.

 

He managed to restart and drive a short distance home with the heaters on full and his car is currently on the drive waiting to be picked up in the morning to go to the same dealers as mine with a failed water pump!  :-/

 

hee hee, Karma !!

 

It seems like the water pump is becoming the new boost Pressure Sensor, lots of them failing around the same time.

I wonder if its a general design problem or a faulty batch of pumps as many in the list are failing around 10,000miles...

[neiln]

I think I read on one of the previous threads about it that it was possibly a dodgy batch and there is some kind of technical note out on it, so dealers are/should be aware.  Which contributed to my surprise when nothing was done re my coolant loss, but I guess if they can't find evidence of a problem then they don't get authority to go striping the engine from SUK.

[NetScaler]

I had my water pump replaced 6 months ago too. No issue since. Agree that there appears to be a faulty batch out there somewhere.

[sworrall]

Got mine back today and all ok. Also got my fourth set of boot struts fitted. Fingers crossed this time

[FluffyEyeball]

Update:

 

Collected my car this morning, repair is all done. The fella said that when they lifted it on the ramp, they could actually see it leaking from the housing of the pump itself. He said that this particular pump is driven off either the gearbox, or the balancing shaft, or the gearbox balancing shaft (is there a such thing?)...he wasn't too sure...somewhere at the front of the engine anyway, not driven by the chain.

 

Anywho, he said that it was just the housing that was leaking, but everything has been replaced as it comes as a unit. So far so good, fingers crossed it doesn't happen again

 

And I must say the customer service from RRG Skoda in Rochdale has been second to none. Absolutely bloody brilliant! Couldn't have done more to help if they'd tried! I'll certainly be going back there for any future servicing etc. Would highly recommend them.

 

 

Got mine back today and all ok. Also got my fourth set of boot struts fitted. Fingers crossed this time

 

Fourth? Whats been wrong with them? 

[sworrall]

There's another thread on the auto boot struts. They keep blowing their oil seals

[FluffyEyeball]

Ahh yes think I've come across that before...not looked much though as i'm not posh enough to have electric boots  :p   Hope they're not faulty this time though and you don't need them replacing again  

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

Just to clear this up most new engines incorporate 2 coolant pumps:

1 electronic pump that serves to circulate coolant when the engine is not running.

2 a mechanically driven pump that works all the time with the engine running.

The latter now tends to run of a small toothed belt driven by the cams on the gear box end of the engine.

In the case of your car fluffyeyeball - the pump and thermostat housing at the front of the engine was leaking from one of the seals. This seal was not available as an individual part hence the full, new housing.

[FluffyEyeball]

Ahh that makes sense, thanks! 

[gullyg]

Looks like the same happened to me on sunday afternoon.  2013 vRS TDI Manual with 25k on the clock.

 

Driving back from my Dad's near Elgin the maxidot showed OVERHEATING - Stop Immediately.  Took the "AA" (ie contractors) 10 hours to get us back to Edinburgh.

 

Dealer phoned today to tell me it was the water pump and they'd already ordered that and a number of parts it "could have been" just in case so I should hopefully get the octy back tomorrow.

Edited 24 November, 2015 by gullyg