I've always been told with my previous Skodas to have the water pump done at the same time as the timing belt.

However, when I rang Gordon Lamb at Chesterfield for a quote I was told in no uncertain terms that I was wasting my money having it done.

All the other quotes have said it is best to have it done,who's right?

My car is an Octavia vrs 2.0 tfsi

Edited 30 March, 201016 yr by gord

can the water pump only be done on these if the cambelt is off, if so i would have the water pump off and do it anyway, cos it will cost more if the pump then goes when a belt change is not due,

I've always been told with my previous Skodas to have the water pump done at the same time as the timing belt.

However, when I rang Gordon Lamb at Chesterfield for a quote I was told in no uncertain terms that I was wasting my money having it done.

All the other quotes have said it is best to have it done,who's right?

My car is an Octavia vrs 2.0 tfsi

Well, usually it is not necessary, but it is convinient becouse if it fails it usually involves a lot of work hours to change it. Meanwhile when you change the timing belts it is easy to change.

I don´t know the medium life time of a water pump but I guess it is in line with the one of the timing belts. If you see that you start loosing liquids in your car (radiator liquid as typical example) then you will know that you have done the wrong thing... :-(

That said.... things may have changed and they should know more than us....

For the sake of £100 fitted i would do it just for piece of mind

It's up to you but think Pay circa £500 for Cambelt & Pump now or Pay £6k+ for new engine if pump goes and causes belt to snap whilst at motorway speeds

Carl

A sad but familiar tale! It might not be "essential" to do this, but a good dealer should give you the options and talk you through the advantages & disadvantages.

As most have already said, for the few quid extra to do the WP at the same time, it really does seam a false economy. My mate found this out! His car was 4 years old and just shy of 60k on the clock, so in December last year he had it serviced & belt changed, but was chuffed to tell me he had saved £40 by not having the pump changed as it was only "advisable & not necessary"; by the end of Feb guess what? Water pump failed! Fortunately he avoided any other major damage!

Bet he won't decline the offer on his wife's Touran when it's due :no:!

I have been under the impression that the water pump should be changed at the same time as the water pump because of the impellor.

I understand that the impellor on modern water pumps are plastic (rather than good old fashioned metal) and that the impellors can break up with age. Sometimes this can jam the pump and cause problems with the belt. So whilst the belt is off it makes sense to chnage the pump at the same time.

I was told this by the local VW main dealer (when I used to own a VW), and also by our local VW/Skoda indie who services my wife's Fabia.

Anybody got any contrary view?

Nope. I'm an Engineer (not Motor vehicles) specialising in early equipment failures, and plastic impellers on pumps, motors etc DO become brittle with age.

For the sake of 40 - 100 pounds it does seems false economy.

From my current knowledge (9 yrs of ownership experience and 120,000 miles in a Fabia and another 3 yrs and 20,000 miles in an Octavia) I'd change the pump. Early pumps had plastic impellers and would often fail at around 80,000 to 90,000 miles. Recent pumps have metal impellers and are more robust. However, given the pumps are only about £35 I have had them changed with cambelts. The most recent one that was done last year that had a metal impeller was starting to weep after only 40,000 miles service and 4 years.

It's only a few extra quid to be safe...

I have been under the impression that the water pump should be changed at the same time as the water pump because of the impellor.

I understand that the impellor on modern water pumps are plastic (rather than good old fashioned metal) and that the impellors can break up with age. Sometimes this can jam the pump and cause problems with the belt. So whilst the belt is off it makes sense to chnage the pump at the same time.

I was told this by the local VW main dealer (when I used to own a VW), and also by our local VW/Skoda indie who services my wife's Fabia.

Anybody got any contrary view?{Quote}

Yeah ,that is what I was told with my previous Skodas. The guy at Gordon Lamb was very abrupt when telling me it wasn't neccessary.

Anyway, got the cheapest quote (£318.94 all in) from Volkstech at Dronfield,who I used for my Fabia vrs belt change.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected guys

Edited 30 March, 201016 yr by gord

The Previous Mk1 Octavia vRS was a sod for breaking the plastic impellor into pieces and casusing major overheating damage if it wasn't caught quick enough. I had my Tfsi belt and pump done and the pump looked fine but I would never gamble with it and would always get it done.

We charge an extra £50.00 to suply and fit a water pump and antifreeze there is no labour charge for this job when its done at the same time as the cambelt, in my opinion you would be stupid not having it changed cos the impelor is plastic and becomes brittle and falls apart, Or the bearings in the pump can blow up and cause a massive chain reaction causing BIG engine failure. also get a fixed price for the job as there are 2 types of cambelt covers 1 of which is split in half and the whole job only takes us 2 hours and the 2nd cambelt cover is in 1 piece and you have to remove gearbox mounts as well as engine mounts as well as other components and move the engine and gearbox accross to the n/s to get the timming belt cover out. Can take twice as long ( ie twice the labour charge).

I thought this is a great and informative thread.

My Polo (seriously considering getting an Octavia estate - want vRS, minor problem - can't afford) is soon to go in for a cambelt change. VW garage is offering a special deal of £280 which I think is pretty competitive. I mentioned to the garage that I would like them to do the water pump at the same time, their reaction was Why?

I know the good reasons why the water pump should be done at the same time as the cambelt and they said if I wanted to do it they would charge an additional £55 - fair enough.

But for the dealers it seems to be repairs fall into two categories - a recommended change or only when something is broken. The cambelt is a recommend change but the water pump is not.

I wonder if they dont want to be accused of carrying out unnecessary work?

Great forum by the way.

Cheers.

Useful thread - my Octavia started leaking water on Friday...guess what...new water pump and cam belt needed.

 

52,000 miles, not even 4 years old. £459 at my local dealer.

 

At least I know now that it is a genuine problem and they aren't just ripping me off - so thanks everyone.

 

Still a bit poor for a car only just out of warranty though!

Depending on engine the cam belt should be done at 4 years anyway so you are not far away anyway.

Useful thread - my Octavia started leaking water on Friday...guess what...new water pump and cam belt needed.

 

52,000 miles, not even 4 years old. £459 at my local dealer.

 

Still a bit poor for a car only just out of warranty though!

 

  If the vehicle has full dealership service history ask your dealer to put forward a case to Skoda UK  for a goodwill subsidy as it has come in a fraction early.  You won't get the lot but you might get enough back to take the missus out.