I have a 2006 Skoda Octavia II 1.9 PD TDI Estate and, at 79,000 miles, the cambelt is due for changing. I am quite happy to do this work myself but I am wondering what the advice is regarding changing the water pump at the same time? This would, of course, be just a precautionary measure as there is no evidence at the moment that the water pump is about to fail. Are there any recommendations about this?

I think the normal recommendation is that you normally have to remove the cambelt etc to get to the water pump, so for the cost of the pump, you might as well do it "while you're down there" so to speak.

I have a 2006 Skoda Octavia II 1.9 PD TDI Estate and, at 79,000 miles, the cambelt is due for changing. I am quite happy to do this work myself but I am wondering what the advice is regarding changing the water pump at the same time? This would, of course, be just a precautionary measure as there is no evidence at the moment that the water pump is about to fail. Are there any recommendations about this?

Like 2SkodaFamily said, yes! It's a lot of work to do the belt in terms of disassembly and reassembly, and the pump will add very little time or cost, but will take a huge amount of time if you have to do it later.

When I did the one on my TDi it was about £20-£30 for the pump from GSF and that certainly gave me peace of mind. I know on the earlier cars the standard improvement was to fit pumps with metal blades rather than plastic but I'm not sure if the same holds true for the PDs.

I had a metal pump fitted when my cambelt was changed by a local VAG Indy - they said it should never need doing again?

Thank you, Gyp, 2SkodaFamily and Octavia5, for your advice. I think I shall certainly be planning to change the water pump at the same time as I do the belt.

Incidentally, I see that AVS Car Parts ( http://www.vwspares.co.uk/ ) sell water pumps with metal impellers for my BKC engine for about the same price as Gyp quoted. They also have original manufacturer cambelt kits for what look like very reasonable prices too. And crankshaft locking plates and tensioner wrenches for setting up the belt too. I think I might give them a try - has anyone had any experience of them?

Many Thanks,

Kind Regards,

John.

Edited 11 September, 201015 yr by tyro