I'm getting my Cam Belt replaced on Fabia VRs in June.

The main dealer has quoted me £265 for the job, They said that they don't need to change the waterpump in the majority of cases and it would - obviously - cost a fair bit more to do this as well.

Is it correct what the dealer is saying, can i get away with only getting the belt changed and not the pump?

I am very poor by the way!

I'm getting my Cam Belt replaced on Fabia VRs in June.

The main dealer has quoted me £265 for the job, They said that they don't need to change the waterpump in the majority of cases and it would - obviously - cost a fair bit more to do this as well.

Is it correct what the dealer is saying, can i get away with only getting the belt changed and not the pump?

I am very poor by the way!

Fair bit more? I got mine fitted at the same time by a main dealer for £35 more as the labours minimal while doing the belt.

For £35 it was worth the peace of mind, but its not an absolute must!

The Garage are talking b******s mate, Granted the water pump doesn't technically need doing on your car as the fabia vRS engine isnt notorious for failing.

BUT, to change a water pump requires the removal of the timing belt if it does go at a later date, Thus meaning your going to have to pay another £265 or so to do the pump.

So it makes sense to have the water pump changed when they change the timing belt to give yourself that peace of mind that you have a new pump working away in your engine.

A pump will cost in the region of £25-£50 depending on the discount they offer on the parts and is only held in by three 10mm bolts so a maximum of 5 minutes to change, so where the garage is coming from saying it will cost alot more is quite frankly way off the mark.

If you need any more help then let us know and i'll do my best

As above. Just GET IT done, and if the garage charge any more labour than they already are, tell them you KNOW it's no extra labour (really) to do it. Upping the original quote to £300 to include the pump (which is around £25ish + vat) would be reasonable I reckon.

It is extra labour, what you think nothing happens when a water pump comes out?

Ok its not much but it still takes time to clean up the coolant, refil and bleed the system out.

£265 ain't a bad price for the cambelt though especially for a main dealer.

But they aren't talking 'bullsh!t' as someone so brilliantly put it. OK it makes sense to change the water pump (I always inc them in my quotes) but you don't have to. In 10 years i've only seen one TDi water pump fail, but you could be the lucky one with number two.

I'm getting my Cam Belt replaced on Fabia VRs in June.

The main dealer has quoted me £265 for the job, They said that they don't need to change the waterpump in the majority of cases and it would - obviously - cost a fair bit more to do this as well.

Is it correct what the dealer is saying, can i get away with only getting the belt changed and not the pump?

I am very poor by the way!

I never had mine changed....didn't see the point of the extra £25 and IIRC, the main engines with the pump problem was not that engine.

If you think how many millions of engines there are out there, if it were a serious problem VW would have to change them all.

I think there is far too much hype about the pump problem.....

Besides, if the pump were to fail, and the car was near to the belt change anyway, I'd just get the belt done too....

I may get them to check it when the belt is off for the 120k belt change..

Just my opinion...

I've seen at least two water pumps seize to an extent where they start stripping teeth from the cam belt and numerous others where the plastic impellors crack and become loose on the pump shaft.

What would happen if 6 months down the line the pump seized, stripped the belt and grenaded the engine? You'll be shouting faulty goods/workmanship and expect the dealer to pay for a new engine, and would be not at all happy to find out the pump caused it and you'll have to pay for the repairs.

I just had my cambelt done and had the waterpump done at the same time, was a no brainer for me, happy to pay a little more and have piece of mind

Alan

On one hand, if it aint broke don't fix it.

On the other, for minimal cost you have piece of mind.

I would opt for the latter.

If they quote too much, tell them you are taking it else where, and they might lower the price.

If not i would get a quote from a vag specialist, they are often cheaper and will do the same, if not, a better job!

It isn't much extra work, but Lummox is right that there is a few jobs associated with replacing the water pump, and will probs be an extra hours work, and at dealer prices, that could be an extra £50 - £100.

Ok i'm holding my hands up here and saying I didn't read the original post correctly. Its actually MikeW presuming that adding a water pump change is going to add 'a fair bit' more to the original timing belt change and not the main dealer telling him so.

Lummox is right there would be an extra labour charge for doing the water pump and 0.5 hour max on top of the timing belt time is what would be given to the technician to do the job so you dont want to be getting charged anymore than that.

As Lummox also stated £265 is a reasonable quote for doing the job from the various prices which have been posted around on the forum.

I now think Lummox should hold his hands up for not reading peoples posts right aswell cos i did not put b******t, i put b******s

No Brainer it's false ecooomy not to get the waterpump done too in my opinion.

To replace the pump at a later date will cost you again, learn from my mistake on my golf I did the cambelt (not the pump) at 60,000 then at 75,000 the engine started to overheat so another cambelt and waterpump later it's fixed! Lucky it wasn't a headgasket too

The waterpump had parted comany with the spindle and I've heard of it many times before because they're a plastic impeller they're fine for the service life

As said before it is extra labour to drain the coolant and replace the pump refill the coolant + couple of bottles of G12 but JUST GET IT DONE

It's a not a bad idea getting your coolant replaced anyway.

It's extra inconvenience left by the side of the road when your engine gets too hot