MrkSkoda

Hi ORDS. I can see yopu have Diesel car. Apparantly the pump and timing belt are next to each other and so get replaced at the same time. With Petrol cars unfortuantly this is not the case. Hence my additional costs. NB £380 sounds a very good price for timing belt & pump. Is that a main dealer or an independant specialist?

No that had been replaced about a year earlier. On Petrol engines like the 1.4 TSI the water pump is at the other end of the engine so the Skoda Main Dealer did not replace it when the timing belt was done. So over the course of 2 years I'm nearly a £1,000 out of pocket for work that should have been engineered out of the engine design. I can't help feeling if I had bought a Japanese or Korean car (or most other cars) I would not have needed to spend this extra money. It's bad enough that all VW engined cars need new timing belts at great expense every 5 years, but then have to fork out a similar amnount for a new water pump is crazy, Certainly will make me think twice about getting another Skoda/VW car.

At the moment (touch wood!) the error message has stopped, but I'm sure it will start again! It seemes completely random when it occurs. Just had my leaking water pump replaced on my 1.4TSI Octavia at 72,000 miles and 6 years old. Not at all pleased.about this as cost 450 quid. Are there any water pump threads you can point me at?

Yes I think you can almost guarantee that will happen! On my Skoda the problem goes away for weeks and then randomly re-appears. The problem in Skoda in UK/Europe are putting their head in the sand and pretending there is not a problem. I suspect with my next car I will vote with my feet and avoid VAG. Not definite but a possibility.