Water Pump failure...... Symptom confirmation

[Russ77]

I've already posted in the main water pump thread but I need some fairly urgent advice before I bite the bullet and get it replaced.

Around 6 weeks ago my car over heated, I pulled off the road, turned it off then on again and it worked fine until this morning.  Well I say fine, it may have been taking a little longer to get to temperature but I put that down to cooler mornings.

 

This morning when I think it was trying to do a DPF regen, I got a warning that "operating temperature couldn't be maintained" the temp needle went over the 90 mark and my scan gauge confirmed the temp went up as high at 118c, it then dropped back down after I was able to drive at a steady 50-60mph but kept creeping up over 100 and back down to the mid 90s on the rest of the journey to work.

 

When I left work, it climbed steadily to 106c, at that point I put the heaters on full and it dropped to 82c, cycling the heaters off/on modulated the temperature.  By doing this I managed to drive the 17 miles from work to home.

 

Does this still sound like the water pump "sliding sleeve" failure or am I looking at another problem here?  Local garages are quoting around £475 to replace the pump & timing belt, my nearest Skoda dealership is about 30 miles away.

[duffer]

Sounds like your water pump. I had a 2014 vrs tdi and apparantly they are prone to water pump failure. Same symtoms . Dealer replaced it.

[Gabbo]

At the beginning the water pump sleave issue causes a temporary rise in coolant temperature (while the sleeve is stuck) which corrects itself after stopping or waiting a minute or so.

After the first occurrence (on that drive) the sleeve is open & coolant flows normally, so it did not return for the rest of the driving cycle.

 

My car was like this for 2 months, getting gradually more frequent until I took it to the dealer.

However, there were a couple of people who had perhaps one or two over-temperature warnings & then the sleeve was stuck shut completely with a perminant over-temperature warning.

 

I guess its seems logical that yours is now in between, the pump is sticking but not enough to give a complete error but enough that the regulation of coolant temperature is not good.

 

 

Skoda have been offering 50% contribution to the cost of the change, even when out of warrenty, as long as you have a FSH with Skoda.
I think it was around the 350gbp mark plus 50gbp for the belt so might be worth asking for a quote ...

[Russ77]

1 minute ago, Gabbo said:

At the beginning the water pump sleave issue causes a temporary rise in coolant temperature (while the sleeve is stuck) which corrects itself after stopping or waiting a minute or so.

After the first occurrence (on that drive) the sleeve is open & coolant flows normally, so it did not return for the rest of the driving cycle.

 

My car was like this for 2 months, getting gradually more frequent until I took it to the dealer.

However, there were a couple of people who had perhaps one or two over-temperature warnings & then the sleeve was stuck shut completely with a perminant over-temperature warning.

 

I guess its seems logical that yours is now in between, the pump is sticking but not enough to give a complete error but enough that the regulation of coolant temperature is not good.

 

 

Skoda have been offering 50% contribution to the cost of the change, even when out of warrenty, as long as you have a FSH with Skoda.
I think it was around the 350gbp mark plus 50gbp for the belt so might be worth asking for a quote ...

Thanks Gabbo, I agree with your comment about being in the "in between" phase so full failure could be imminent :(

I bought my car pre-owned in Feb, it was an ex-lease car and only saw a Skoda dealership on it's first service so I don't think I'm going to get anything from them and it's local independent VW/Skoda/Audi/Skoda garage that's quoted me £475.  The car will be 4 in December so it's not like it's just out of warranty either.

 

I was also looking to get the timing belt done between March-June next year rather than leaving it the full 5 years so apart from the lousy timing just before Christmas I'm only "losing" a few months

[Gabbo]

I guess without FSH its more likely they will say no, but my car was 18 months past warrenty (we only get 2 years here in Switzerland from the manufacturer) and they offered me 50% directly without any questions.

[Russ77]

Dropped the car off at around 09:45, they called me at 11:45 to say their diagnostics box confirmed the water pump wasn't activating as it should do and in addition to this they could see the coolant wasn't being moved into coolant tank as you would expect (the first time it overheated the coolant tank was completely cold)

 

They're starting on the timing belt replacement now, the pump won't arrive until later this afternoon but they hope to have the car ready for me tomorrow morning

[Russ77]

Picked the car up a couple of hours ago, all done and dusted.  It came out more expensive than originally quoted as they had to use a Skoda pump.  The pump they quoted me on arrived yesterday afternoon but didn't have the moving sleeve so they didn't want to take any chances.  This put an extra £50 on the bill which ended up at £522.  I know Skoda quote £499 on their website but I'm over an hour away from a dealership and I needed to be back on the road.

 

The guy in the garage was honest enough to admit they'd never come across a pump like this and they were interested to know how it actually worked.  We had a good chat and I went over the sequence of events that lead to the failure and he demonstrated on the old pump what was actually happening (or not in this case).

 

So yes, I'm £500 down 25 days from Christmas (well... it's on an interest free credit card for now) but my car's been fixed within 2 days and I think I may have found a good, trustworthy garage less than 2 miles from me.

[Davet30]

Mines just failed on a 2067 plate our of warranty by 7k miles 😱.  Been offed 50% pump parts and 70% off labour but this is only after they have charged me for a timing belt change at over 500 quid😱.  It's not the money but the principle of having a known fault go wrong.  They just ride their luck hoping it will fail outside the warranty #FeelDuped 

[Davet30]

Did I say 2067 😱.  Must be the alcohol. 🤣🤣🤣.  It's a 67 plate (2017) - Soz. 

[Guest]

registered 2017 on a 67 plate and outside miles by 7,000

 

Given the earliest it could be registered was Sept 2017 and Skoda give an unlimited miles warranty within the 1st two years - that's unlucky. I take it then your car has 67,000 on the clock?

 

Want to be really upset? If your car was registered north of the Irish border, warranty is unlimited for 1st 2 yrs then up to 60,000 miles for the third year.  If the car was registered south of the border, it's the same unlimited 1st 2yrs but then it's up to 150,000km or 93,000 miles in the 3rd.  Annoying isn't it?

 

If I were in your position I'd put the above to Skoda and ask them why the difference on the same island. They'll probably come up with some feable excuse but then again it's worth a try for some extra goodwill. Or should I say it's worth a punt !    

Edited 26 November, 2019 by Guest

[Gabbo]

The timing belt change is normally recommended at the same time as the pump so I think the dealer is just giving you a discount on one side & charging your the same for something else.

 

From the other threads, with the goodwill payment it should come to around 300-350gbp (without the timing belt).

 

There is also a fixed price service for a water pump & timing belt I think on the Skoda website:
https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/servicing-maintenance-fixed-price 529gbp with the timing belt included.

[Davet30]

Thanks.  Tbh it's not really the money but the principle of the whole thing.  There is obviously an issue with the water pump.  I'd hate to go through this every 60000miles. 😱.  I've made a formal complaint to Skoda customer services and I'm awaiting a return call. 

 

[Gabbo]

The replacement part sleave should be made of metal instead of plastic (if i remember right or vice-versa - there are some pictures inside the pinned thread about it) so they have obviously tried rectify the problem.

However, it will take time until a large number of users reach the same kind of mileage with the replacement pump to confirm the same issue dosent really come back.

 

I think the main problem here are the dealers. Skoda will offer 50% discount without much pushing as they know it is their issue, however, it relies on your dealer being honest & not charging you full price and pocketting the money offered by Skoda. (the dealers are all franchises after all & just out to make money - they dont really represent Skodas interests unless it will make them another sale).

To be honest, whilst it shouldnt happen, 50% discount for out of warrenty replacements is the best I've ever had from any other manufacturer when I've had problems in the past so I was pretty happy with the serivce.

[Davet30]

Could I just ask that everyone tell Watchdog about their experience please. Tweet them here: @BBCWatchdog

 

thanks. 

[Gabbo]

With the water pump failing or dealers charging you more than the fixed prices?

[Davet30]

The former.  With regards to the pump upgrade both Skoda UK and the garage have stated that there is no upgrade. 🤔

[mbames]

Mine is due back in for a secondary (under warranty, hopefully) fix.  The current pump lasted 50k miles.

 

Remember replacement parts carry a 2 year warranty, so this could get expensive for the dealers is they keep fitting rubbish pumps.

[Gabbo]

In the water pump thread there are some pictures & part numbers for the pump with the plastic sleeve & the metal sleeve so there was clearly a updated part. (I cant remember if plastic was replaced by metal or vice-versa).

What would be interesting is if the two of you are now saying that the replacement part is also experiencing failures at a similar pump age.

[mbames]

Mine was a '14 plate, and it was replaced about 22 months ago (so at about 3 years old).

I don't know what was fitted to mine, but when I take it in later in the month, I can try and find out... assuming the dealer will be forthcoming with part number / part revisions.

[Davet30]

with regards to the price - as a 'good will gesture' - they knocked off 50% on parts and 70% off labour for the pump.  total cost came to £232.44.  I complained to SkodaUK and blagged the next 2 services free so I'm sort of satisfied with that especially as I got a new timing belt fitted too.

 

with regards to the fault .... they wrote on their report impeller seized??  which is contrary to what others, including you guys, have said?  I wish I'd asked for the old pump back so I could inspect it for myself!

 

it was such poor communications at the garage I ended up being in a hurry to get out of there!