The Mk3 Octavia TDI water pump thread

[fr1nklyn]

On 19/12/2022 at 22:15, fatgaz said:

I get the timing belt part but a water pump issues on cars from 35k onwards inst what you should expect these days. My Kia has 110k and still going stong on the original pump.

My O3 has almost 100k miles and still have no issues with the factory fitted water pump(knock on wood  ).

 

I changed the coolant once on the 5th year and I don’t plan to change the timing belt and water pump till 130k as this is the mileage interval in which Skoda requires to changed them in my country. No time interval.

 

So it really depends on the car, maybe I’m lucky, who knows 🤔

 

[fatgaz]

Luck you and hope it continues

[SuperbTWM]

On 20/12/2022 at 08:19, PetrolDave said:

The water pump has to be disturbed/removed to replace the timing belt, so it makes sense to replace the water pump rather than try to refit/reseal the old pump.

If you're not changing the pump it doesn't get touched when changing the belt

[fr1nklyn]

1 hour ago, SuperbTWM said:

If you're not changing the pump it doesn't get touched when changing the belt

In most cases no extra labor cost is added, so usually people do both.

Exception is if the car is on low mileage. 

[Corbarwolf]

On 29/07/2018 at 13:14, metalstock87 said:

 

I may be wrong in saying this nick, but as ive just gone through the whole water pump (scinario) pretty sure ive read on here, that it was upto and including 2014/64 plate..... not sure on the exact month or date but im guessing you should be alright on a 2015?? almost a 65 plate wich is even later/cdn-cgi/mirage/374a16b8d3782a1b72110b1bac712597d509ee5650b4eab9b3b512d9c28bf528/1280/https://www.briskoda.net/forums/uploads/emoticons/emoticon-0103-cool.gif your best bet would probably be to ring your local SKODA HQ

I have a 68 plate Superb 2.0tdi auto estate and have the warning as discussed. In to garage this Friday for new pump and cambelt for £600

[SuperbTWM]

On 21/12/2022 at 17:53, fr1nklyn said:

In most cases no extra labor cost is added, so usually people do both.

Exception is if the car is on low mileage. 

 

I think you may have missed my point 😁

[KevinSt]

My water pump just failed 😞. The dashboard showed low coolant and the reservoir was empty. Managed to get the car home after topping it up with water. I suspected that it was the pump straightaway and so started stripping the front end until I could see the pump. I added some water to the reservoir and it immediately leaked out of the centre of the pump. In fact there was a small piece of gasket or seal hanging out from the behind the pump pulley.

 

Upon removing the pump there was something rattling behind the pulley, the collar was stuck covering the impeller and the plunger on the solenoid valve snapped off in the housing as the plastic seemed brittle. I think that it was not far away from catastrophic bearing failure.

 

Needless to say I'll be replacing it with a non-collared version since I don't want the overheating problem and I'll look to change it again in about 60k miles, which at the current rate will take me another 20 years.

 

Here are my details:

• Year of registration

2013

• Engine

2.0 TDi CKFC

• Mileage when fault occurred

69900

• Dealer name & response (i.e. "don't want to know"/"yep, they all do that"/other)

Didn't bother asking

• Warranty or goodwill contribution?

I am the warranty 😉

• Any other info. (Full Skoda service history/independent?)

Car has been regularly serviced, pump was original but has now been replaced with a Gates pump that doesn't have the sliding collar. Belt and idlers all looked in good order but they were replaced too.

[Genoa1893]

Car is 2018, just 83K kilometers (just 51K miles). Two weeks ago while I was in Switzerland a low level for coolant blinked on my dashboard. I topped it and after a while I got the same warning and indeed no coolant enough. It was detected the famous leak of the water pump. The engine oil was just warm (always less than 100°C)

 

She was brought to an official Skoda dealer in Frauenfeld (CH) which "offered" water pump, belt and even screws replacement for an astonishing 2500 CHF (2200 GBP).

 

No comment...

[fr1nklyn]

44 minutes ago, Genoa1893 said:

Car is 2018, just 83K kilometers (just 51K miles). Two weeks ago while I was in Switzerland a low level for coolant blinked on my dashboard. I topped it and after a while I got the same warning and indeed no coolant enough. It was detected the famous leak of the water pump. The engine oil was just warm (always less than 100°C)

 

She was brought to an official Skoda dealer in Frauenfeld (CH) which "offered" water pump, belt and even screws replacement for an astonishing 2500 CHF (2200 GBP).

 

No comment...

What happened then? Did you topped up some coolant and return back or accepted the offer? I guess not.. 😂

 

The labor costs a lot in CH..

[Genoa1893]

It happened that I kindly answered I would have taken my car back without letting them work on it! I must say they were anyway very friendly and even topped the coolant for free.

 

Then I happily drove back to Italy (I mean +450Km) and - apart from stopping several times to top it up - I had no whatsoever hint of overheating of water nor of oil. Water temp raised progressively to 90°C and holded, maximum oil temp I saw (I kept monitoring water and oil temp) was 107°C while climbing the mountains but the temperature was clearly under car control, and typically was around 100°C (perfect value, would say).

 

This morning she's recovered in a Skoda garage in Italy.

 

For sure this pump (?) failure didn't kill the car.

Edited 23 January, 2023 by Genoa1893

[Rustler40]

Just had my 64 reg 1.6 TDI cam belt/tensioner/water pump replaced.
 

Belt had some micro cracks but was in pretty good shape. Water pump had been leaking and was on the way out 😳 so I’m glad I had this done early (122K) not the 140K I believe Skoda quote. 
 

Cost all in £485 at independent (parts £305 labour £180). 
 

Wife wasn’t convinced it need done but after the near failure of the water pump and potential impending disaster she’s well pleased 😀 🤣👍

[Domas]

On 23/01/2023 at 20:36, Genoa1893 said:

It happened that I kindly answered I would have taken my car back without letting them work on it! I must say they were anyway very friendly and even topped the coolant for free.

 

Then I happily drove back to Italy (I mean +450Km) and - apart from stopping several times to top it up - I had no whatsoever hint of overheating of water nor of oil. Water temp raised progressively to 90°C and holded, maximum oil temp I saw (I kept monitoring water and oil temp) was 107°C while climbing the mountains but the temperature was clearly under car control, and typically was around 100°C (perfect value, would say).

 

This morning she's recovered in a Skoda garage in Italy.

 

For sure this pump (?) failure didn't kill the car.

Interesting story, especially being able to drive 500 km with a pump failure. How much did it cost in Italy?

[vannie666]

Can anybody please give me some advice? My Octavia Octavia Mk 3 has started to Overheat! At first the problem was intermittent but now it happens regularly.  However... If I put the heater onto full, this takes the temperature back down to 90 so I can control it to an extent but I'm worried about the damage I could cause the engine.

 

As well as this I'm due to tour round France with it over the summer, so it is imperative that it is reliable.

 

After reading the thread, It sounds reminiscent of a faulty water pump? The best of my knowledge it has never been replaced. How much would I expect to pay for this if I went to a dealer?

 

FYI:

2014 plate, Octavia 2.0 TDI

109K miles on the clock (cam belt changed at 75K)

[Dave77]

1 hour ago, vannie666 said:

However... If I put the heater onto full, this takes the temperature back down to 90 so I can control it to an extent but I'm worried about the damage I could cause the engine.

 

What temp does it reach when overheating?

[vannie666]

1 minute ago, Dave77 said:

 

What temp does it reach when overheating?

If I leave it, all the way into the red and then the warning sound comes on. Out the heater on and it goes back to 90.

[vannie666]

Put it into dealer and yup, water pump failure - Got the cam belt changed at the same time for £650.

 

• Year of registration - 2014

 

• Engine 2.0 TDI

 

• Mileage when fault occurred - 109,000 miles

 

• Dealer name & response (i.e. "don't want to know"/"yep, they all do that"/other) - Johnsons Liverpool

 

• Warranty or goodwill contribution? - Nope. Did have a deal on, Cam belt and water pump for £650

 

• Any other info. (Full Skoda service history/independent?) - Full independent service history. Cam belt and water pump originally changed by previous owner at 70,000 miles

[tomekkk1]

• Year of registration - 2015
• Engine 2.0 TDI 150
• Mileage when fault occurred - 85,000 miles
• Dealer name & response (i.e. "don't want to know"/"yep, they all do that"/other) - Listers Skoda Coventry, did the work as belt was due (7 years interval, instead of recommeded 5, but about the 130000km so was done just about time) and pump had to be done as leaking coolant
• Warranty or goodwill contribution? - Paid £600 for both belt and pump
• Any other info. (Full Skoda service history/independent?) - Full Skoda history, bought from them.

My engine was not overheating, but I noticed that the coolant started leaking August 2022, put some coolant back in, drove for another maybe ~200km, coolant level went down, the dealer took it in for diagnostics, determined pump was leaking, fortunately not into the engine (oil was fine and everything, just losing coolant), went in for repairs along with other things due like engine oil, dsg oil and brake fluid, aircon etc (bill was just over £1k for all of that service). Car was fine, couple of trips to Poland and back to UK, passed MOT on Friday (04/08/23) and on Sunday it came up again with coolant level low warning, topped up coolant, but went in today and booked in diagnostics to determine if it's the same thing. As mentioned in the thread previously, I noticed an alarming frequency of DPF regens happening recently, could have something to do with overheating the pump assembly. Dealer said parts are still under a 2 year warranty from last change a year ago, so if it's the same problem, I might get away with having it changed for free. I'll let you know, the diagnostics is booked in for end of August.

[Gabbo]

On 19/01/2023 at 23:59, Genoa1893 said:

She was brought to an official Skoda dealer in Frauenfeld (CH) which "offered" water pump, belt and even screws replacement for an astonishing 2500 CHF (2200 GBP).

 

I can confirm that this is a normal price in an AMAG (vag) garage in Switzerland!

A standard service is around 350chf and a major service around 600chf...

I've been quoted this twice for my Octavia when they try to convince me to get it done early.

The quotes are all fully itemized & you will pay vag prices for every screw, bolt, o ring, gasket etc

 

Those who can often take their cars to France or Germany for work because they usually offer fixed price services for cars over 3 years old like in the UK.

 

[srosuzuka]

• Year of registration - 2013
• Engine 1.6 TDI
• Mileage when fault occurred - 56000 miles
• Dealer name & response (i.e. "don't want to know"/"yep, they all do that"/other) - Not sure, bought privately
• Warranty or goodwill contribution? - £714 for belt and pump
• Any other info. (Full Skoda service history/independent?) - Full service history (part Skoda part independent)

Only bought it 2 weeks before this 😭