The Mk3 Octavia TDI water pump thread

[BillyCool]

1 hour ago, Beefster said:

No, I mean fit a new pump that has the shield/solenoid, but not connect the solenoid into the loom.  As far as I am aware, the shield is in the normally open/hot position and the solenoid closes it for cold start.  Thanks

 

Thanks for clarifying. I'm not sure TBH. I think it's always a risk to unlplug something that should be plugged in!

 

 

[Beefster]

Yup you’re right...... I’m torn between living with an error code or knowing that in a couple of years I could be in the same boat again! 

[BillyCool]

5 minutes ago, Beefster said:

Yup you’re right...... I’m torn between living with an error code or knowing that in a couple of years I could be in the same boat again! 

 

My old pump did 90,000 miles (over 5 years) before failing, so I'd like to think it would at least last a reasonable amount of time.

 

They do tend to revise stuff, so hopefully you have one that's been tweaked or `improved`.

 

 

[Beefster]

All done, I have the 2 year old pump in my hand, it is very notch to turn and every now and then it sticks and takes quite some force to move. This was Trucktec (made in Germany) without the warm up shield.  Only covered 40000km. 

[TAA99]

 

Have a Skoda Octavia 2014 2.0L TDI elegance estate

 

Seems to be a similar / the same coolant overheating issue.  First occurred at 39,800 miles in Feb 2020 when getting up to speed on the motorway shortly after start of the journey.  Temperature gauge increases rapidly, until the red zone and the Engine overheat warning turns on.  Then need to switch off or slow down for it to return to normal 90 deg temp.

 

I find that if you drive more slowly (50mph or below) for 20 mins or so, the temperature doesn't reach the red zone, and then the problem then seems to go away - the pump/impeller frees itself?  Similarly if after a long journey at speed you start the car again soon, while still warm, the problem doesn't occur.  Seems that our pump is sticking but can free itself, once all warmed up, if that's the problem. 

 

Tried Marshall Skoda Croydon - no interest in contribution.  Car well outside warranty and not serviced at Skoda dealer since 2017.  Quoted to fix cambelt and water pump for £590.  Appeared not to have heard of this problem. 

 

Went to very local garage, but looked at diagnostics and nothing there.  Unwilling to do work where the problem was not showing up.  

 

Volks in Sutton will do the water pump and cambelt for £419.

[BillyCool]

1 minute ago, TAA99 said:

 

Have a Skoda Octavia 2014 2.0L TDI elegance estate

 

Seems to be a similar / the same coolant overheating issue.  First occurred at 39,800 miles in Feb 2020 when getting up to speed on the motorway shortly after start of the journey.  Temperature gauge increases rapidly, until the red zone and the Engine overheat warning turns on.  Then need to switch off or slow down for it to return to normal 90 deg temp.

 

I find that if you drive more slowly (50mph or below) for 20 mins or so, the temperature doesn't reach the red zone, and then the problem then seems to go away - the pump/impeller frees itself?  Similarly if after a long journey at speed you start the car again soon, while still warm, the problem doesn't occur.  Seems that our pump is sticking but can free itself, once all warmed up, if that's the problem. 

 

Tried Marshall Skoda Croydon - no interest in contribution.  Car well outside warranty and not serviced at Skoda dealer since 2017.  Quoted to fix cambelt and water pump for £590.  Appeared not to have heard of this problem. 

 

Went to very local garage, but looked at diagnostics and nothing there.  Unwilling to do work where the problem was not showing up.  

 

Volks in Sutton will do the water pump and cambelt for £419.

 

My car did that. Would overheat under load but was very inconsistent, which made fault finding even harder. If it's the electronic one, it's the outer cover/shroud that sticks and not the impeller. I've seen mine up close when it was removed and it didn't inspire me with confidence. That was why I fitted a non-widget one.

 

Dealer won't be interested and diagnostics won't show anything as it doesn't throw up any fault codes. If your cambelt has not been done before, it's certainly due anyway. 

 

£419 is a sensible price. Will you get a warranty with that? 

 

I'm 99% sure a new water pump will sort it. 

[TAA99]

Thanks BillyCool.  Very helpful.

 

Need to check what you mean by non-widget one, but will read up the thread to be sure. 

 

Not sure about a warranty on the new water pump at Volks, but will check. 

[BillyCool]

15 minutes ago, TAA99 said:

Thanks BillyCool.  Very helpful.

 

Need to check what you mean by non-widget one, but will read up the thread to be sure. 

 

Not sure about a warranty on the new water pump at Volks, but will check. 

 

Sorry - should have been a bit clearer. The electronic pump has the widget (as I call it) that moves up and down the impeller to increase/decrease water flow. This is spring loaded in one direction (to increase water flow). When this sticks, water flow is not increased and you get an overheat. When it springs open every once in a while, all is well again (hence the inconsistency).

 

Not that VAG would admit that the pump has issues but there is now a revised `non-widget` version that does not have the shroud. In fact, it's just like a good old-school water pump. That's what I got fitted to my car and had no issues since.

 

Pic is the pump. Shroud is silver cover (red arrow) that moves up and down (yellow arrow) to control coolant flow. When it sticks, it can't open properly to allow coolant level to increase. New, non-widget pump doesn't have the shroud.

Edited 9 February, 2021 by BillyCool

[TAA99]

Thanks for that.  Got it.  Unclear why they needed the shroud in the first place.

[BillyCool]

16 hours ago, TAA99 said:

Thanks for that.  Got it.  Unclear why they needed the shroud in the first place.

 

Won't bore you too much but it's to do with emission levels and warm up times. The car has 3 coolant circuits and the on start up (cold) the shroud limits the water flow to just the smaller circuit and ignores/omits the larger radiator circuit.  This way the car warms up quicker and results in better fuel use etc so the emissions look better.

 

Another emissions related `idea` that doesn't work so well. 

 

 

Edited 10 February, 2021 by BillyCool

[59p]

Whats the scheduling for replacing the cambelt and water pump on the 184 tdi engine? Mine was replaced in 2019 @ 80k miles, vehicle is now on 125,500k.. 

[BillyCool]

4 minutes ago, 59p said:

Whats the scheduling for replacing the cambelt and water pump on the 184 tdi engine? Mine was replaced in 2019 @ 80k miles, vehicle is now on 125,500k.. 

 

Seems to depend who you ask.

 

I was told 120,000 miles or 5 years. 

 

Mine was done at 100,000 due to waterpump issues. 

 

I would have thought that yours would be good until 2024 or 180,000? Or 160,000 if being cautious?

 

Every one seems to have a different answer.

[mickboxster2700]

On 11/02/2021 at 13:00, BillyCool said:

 

Seems to depend who you ask.

 

I was told 120,000 miles or 5 years. 

 

Mine was done at 100,000 due to waterpump issues. 

 

I would have thought that yours would be good until 2024 or 180,000? Or 160,000 if being cautious?

 

Every one seems to have a different answer.

mines just gone again after only 14000 miles,2.0 cr original bought from skoda main agent

[micro]

Just to add my tuppence - had my water pump and timing belt replaced on my 2016 1.6 TDI (CXXB) engine, covered 53000 miles. I had never had an issue of overheating - however - all my journeys are generally at 30mph or above for extended periods of time. I did have a very odd noise, especially at cold, but unknown if that was related to the pump.

 

The old water pump does indeed appear to be faulty, with the sleeve stuck in the closed position (blocking the impellers openings) until I pried it down. It's also covered in orange scale that I had also found in my coolant reservoir (and I believe may have been a result of the silicate bag inside the reservoir)

[BionicJohn]

My 2016 1.6 diesel DSG Estate is due for a service and MOT this month.  They dealer said the cambelt needed changing (5 years/100,000Km) for a mere £500. After reading this long thread, I've decided to add a new water pump for another £100 though I've not had any issues with the temperature.  I was surprised at the short life of the cambelt.  My Citroëns and Fords cambelts are replaced at 10 years /200,000Km but hey-ho. 

 

I need two front tyres too, so that's £150+ even at Costco.   Motoring ain't cheap.

[alladin1616]

On 20/07/2021 at 15:56, BionicJohn said:

My 2016 1.6 diesel DSG Estate is due for a service and MOT this month.  They dealer said the cambelt needed changing (5 years/100,000Km) for a mere £500. After reading this long thread, I've decided to add a new water pump for another £100 though I've not had any issues with the temperature.  I was surprised at the short life of the cambelt.  My Citroëns and Fords cambelts are replaced at 10 years /200,000Km but hey-ho. 

 

I need two front tyres too, so that's £150+ even at Costco.   Motoring ain't cheap.

Kwikfit was doing 2 continental premium contact 6 (205/55v16) for £143 fitted (mobile) last week. Not sure if the voucher is still valid but worth a look if you haven't replaced the tyres yet. 

[BionicJohn]

Cheers! I'll check that out.

[BionicJohn]

On 27/07/2021 at 06:21, alladin1616 said:

Kwikfit was doing 2 continental premium contact 6 (205/55v16) for £143 fitted (mobile) last week. Not sure if the voucher is still valid but worth a look if you haven't replaced the tyres yet. 

I got two Michelins this morning from Costco for £134.77. They put the new tyres on the rear and moved the rears to the front as a matter of course.

 

Apparently there are big discounts on Bridgestones next week but my MoT is on Tuesday. 

[Kalvis99]

Mine was changed 2 times. First time boiled ~80kkm, second time 145 kkm. Octavia 1.6tdi 2014. Not covered by any warranty :( Audi had recall on this problem.

[knab]

The water pump failed on my 2014/64 VRS TDI in January 2019. It was replaced with a genuine VAG part, which I was told to be a later version pump with part number 04L 121 011L. Today the car has suffered another round of the overheating dance. Does anyone else have experience of this particular pump and suffering a further failure?

[fr1nklyn]

On 05/08/2021 at 20:59, knab said:

The water pump failed on my 2014/64 VRS TDI in January 2019. It was replaced with a genuine VAG part, which I was told to be a later version pump with part number 04L 121 011L. Today the car has suffered another round of the overheating dance. Does anyone else have experience of this particular pump and suffering a further failure?

When I asked my local dealer should I change my cambelt and waterpump due to the mileage and age of my car, and also my concerns that the pump will soon fail somewhere on the road, they simply told me that the issue hasn’t been fixed yet, regarding the new versions of the pump.

So they advised me not to hurry and wait till 8th year or 210k kms and then to change cambelt, pump as well as the v-belt and its tensioner.

 

They could tell me that I have to change it and get the money of course, but they didn’t most likely because they know that this won’t solve my concerns.

 

The truth is, the new pumps still fail, leak and get stuck.

[micro]

This was what the dealer told me too - they just fitted the same part to the car. Luckily, the next time my car needs its belt doing I will either not be the owner, or i'll do it myself as it will be old enough that I care less about breaking something and i'll replace with the improved "non-electrical" version. 

[BillyCool]

On 05/08/2021 at 18:59, knab said:

The water pump failed on my 2014/64 VRS TDI in January 2019. It was replaced with a genuine VAG part, which I was told to be a later version pump with part number 04L 121 011L. Today the car has suffered another round of the overheating dance. Does anyone else have experience of this particular pump and suffering a further failure?

 

I got mine replaced with a pump without the shroud/widget/actuator and it's been fine since.

 

Could yours be thermostat related as they can fail as well? Be a real shame if your pump has failed again already.

[Tivan]

I also heard that vw/skoda went back to conventional design of pumps without this actuator sleeve and that should solve that problem. However, after I asked dealer to tell me what kind of water pump they would install on my car given the quote they have me - they never replied. I will most certainly ask for a conventional pump design when I get my car into dealership for cam belt change. If they start flying around that request I will not proceed with the work and find another place. 

[Mynextcarwillwork]

Please share this video so Skoda take notice

 

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRejDqSq/