Hi,

2l 150bhp Octavia 3.2016

Low coolant on a level surface, hovering at minimum. No overheating. This is the 2nd top since ownership in 2 years. Although , the coolant level has dropped 150 to 200 ml in last month. This is the concern. Car has 20 k on clock. Most water pump failures are earlier year Octavia 3 models and higher miles, so problem may yet to present. 

A search on the water pump thread sticky shows at least one 2016 model owner affected.

 

I have booked car in provisionally with dealer a few weeks from now, however given that the problem may be other than a manufacturing defect the dealer may charge. 

 

Car already had obd scan at 2 separate dealers previously. I doubt anything has changed with diagnostics.

 

Q What is covered under warranty on the cooling side. Would a split hose be covered or loose hose etc ? A leak test was mentioned but a charge is likely.

Q2 Does a new water pump sleeve actually resolve the water pump overheating problem? I'm jumping to assumptions in my case.

Q3 Is there anything I should be looking for in engine bay. Locations of possible leaks, etc.

Q4 water pump sleeve failure - does a diagnostic reveal codes indicating failure at an early stage?

 

Car has already had new boot struts and sunroof seal under warranty.

 

Q5 what should I be prepared to contribute to an investigation?

Thanks

 

Edited 1 October, 20187 yr by bmbmdmb

The best thing for this I feel is getting a UV tracer put into the coolant, top it up as normal and if it goes down you hopefully should be able to locate where it's losing the coolant from.

I've had a similar issue, 2016 2.0tdi. Very slow coolant loss, sometimes does not move for weeks, then will drop a small amount. Booked it in at the dealers. To be fair they tried their best, had the car for three days but could not find the fault. No charge but they did say if it turned out to be a stone damaged radiator or similar wear and tear I would need to pay. Currently monitoring the level, hasn't moved yet!

Edited 1 October, 20187 yr by durhamfisher

5 hours ago, tunedude said:

getting a UV tracer put into the coolant

Any recommendations? I bought a £20 UV lamp which the orange safety glasses for an AC leak on an Astra H. It never revealed itself but that is liquid to gas phase. Only things that fluoresced was the DNA in the flies on condenser, no holes in condenser were found BTW.

Worth a shot.

 

2 hours ago, durhamfisher said:

Currently monitoring the level, hasn't moved yet!

How long have you gone without loss of coolant? Mileage on car? Thanks

I wouldn't know which product to recommend to be honest.

 

The best thing to do is get it in to the garage and let them go over it which a fine toothed comb.

1 minute ago, bmbmdmb said:

How long have you gone without loss of coolant? Mileage on car? Thanks

 

About 1200 miles. Car has 28k. Doesn't mean its fixed though. Think I did about 3k with no movement before it started again and I booked it in with the dealers.  Best to get it recorded while under warranty which will still be a valid claim if you continue to get issues once the 3 year warranty is up.

Ok. Is the fix a new water pump and sleeve? Which is probably pricey and not needed until 80k miles, I think dealer said was timing belt interval when I bought car. 

 

Does the Octavia 3 facelift have the same water pump? And the same flaws?

80k, I thought the cambelt and water pump interval was higher on the o3

Mine uses Coolant - im toping up about every 3k I think  -Ive brought one of those UV tracers on the off chance that I may find something in the bay but are aware it may be the pump

 

13 hours ago, bmbmdmb said:

Ok. Is the fix a new water pump and sleeve? Which is probably pricey and not needed until 80k miles, I think dealer said was timing belt interval when I bought car. 

 

Does the Octavia 3 facelift have the same water pump? And the same flaws?

 

Its more than 80k - My 2.0TDI is on 100k and I rang to get a price for a cambelt and was told (from memory) its 120k

From what I can see around on t’internet it’s 5 years or 120k miles, but do check with the dealer/Skoda for your specific vehicle as it may differ from this.

10 hours ago, cheezemonkhai said:

120k miles

Yes, 120k miles. I could not remember correctly. 

10 hours ago, ScoutCJB said:

may be the pump

Does the water pump sleeve stick and the overheated water trapped in the engine evaporate under pressure past the water pump seal? Is water pump near top or bottom of timing belt?

 

How do you need to behave if I get overheating. Shut off engine, wait X amount of time, restart engine once sleeve has opened up?

 

This loss of coolant has coincided with wife's school run, a change of routine, a short few mins, 1 mile of driving from cold then engine off then engine on after 10 to 15 mins. Then 15 mile drive.

I took the car on commute of 40 miles round trip today with motorway and coolant level was max, no change.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, bmbmdmb said:

Yes, 120k miles. I could not remember correctly. 

Does the water pump sleeve stick and the overheated water trapped in the engine evaporate under pressure past the water pump seal? Is water pump near top or bottom of timing belt?

 

How do you need to behave if I get overheating. Shut off engine, wait X amount of time, restart engine once sleeve has opened up?

 

This loss of coolant has coincided with wife's school run, a change of routine, a short few mins, 1 mile of driving from cold then engine off then engine on after 10 to 15 mins. Then 15 mile drive.

I took the car on commute of 40 miles round trip today with motorway and coolant level was max, no change.

 

 

 

 

The water pump is at the bottom (front left of engine bay) if I remember correctly.  I don't believe that you would necessarily see any visible water leaks if it is the pump especially with the current minimal loss.  My thoughts were it leaked past a seal but evaporated with engine heat.

 

If it were to overheat then shut down immediately and check level.

 

I am monitoring mine and use same process - park in garage, pencil mark on header in morning and repeat every other day.  Of an evening when hot the level is lower and rises overnight as it cools.  Unsure if this indicates anything but ultimately I always check when cold.

I have booked the car in with a dealer. I e mailed two dealers about costs and warranty but none wanted to respond, it seems, in e mail.

 

They admitted there is an established water pump problem and contribution. There are 2 water pumps apparently, one is connected to the timing belt on UK driver's side of car. There is a secondary water pump I was told that might be leaking.

I also got told the car can 'use' water. I said you mean it evaporates, they said no. Which water pump has the problem leak?

Apparently, I read on this site the radiator and bumper need to come off, but this is not the case. Unless car is a Citigo or possibly an Octavia 2.

 

Anyone comment on this?

Update - leak test showed no leak. Suggestion was loss of coolant due to air lock from new. DM Keith of Wakefield were great, no charge for looking at car for few hours. 

Someone once said that VW systems aren't fully closed like some manufacturers, and that over time you will get a bit of loss from evaporation etc.

Is this true?

 

Cambelt interval - 5 years, mine has 47k and was due but a water pump failure a couple of weeks ago got that seen to anyway.