Cooling pump b, Open circuit fault code P261A

[Dave3283]

Hi All,

I have an engine management light showing on my Octavia Vrs 2.0 CRTDI,

From a scan I am getting the error Cooling pump b,  Open circuit fault code P261A  which I believe is an electronic secondary pump in the cooling system and appears to be a common fault across the VAG group.

Due to the time of year and needing the car for travelling over Xmas and the New year I have booked it in with my local trusted garage on Wednesday to be looked at.

 

The car is showing no other symptoms other than the warning light and error code, it does not over heat and appears to heat up normally, no limp mode and A/C works fine.

 

I can reset the fault code and it did not appear on the next run ( reset after commute to work yesterday didn't appear on run home)  however it has popped up again today half way into work.

 

My commute this week is only 8 miles each way and given the colder weather it has only just heated up by the time I get to work ( this is normal behaviour in the winter unless i get stuck in traffic ) 

My question is does any one know how much damage I may cause driving the car between now and it going in as I need it to get to work?
 

[Dave3283]

Just to update on this in case anyone is interested, driving the car does not appear to have caused any damage or lasting issues.

The secondary cooling pump was replaced by my local trusted garage For £200 which is broken down to £160 inc vat for a genuine pump and £40 for 1hrs labour and sundries ( coolant top up) I now have no engine management light and no returning fault code  

[Kris82]

I had this fault code come up last year when we had snow. 

Only popped up in the really bad conditions.

Its design is to pump coolant around the engine after you’ve turned engine off if temps are really high.

After a hard run we should be running the car stationary for a bit anyway to cool things down. But hey hoe humans are lazy so this little pump does it for us. 

Ive bought a second hand one just for back up. 

Its under the car and easily accessible. Will get back to this thread if the cold weather brings the code back.

 

Edited 20 December, 2018 by Kris82

[Dave3283]

Yeah, my car thrown up the code a couple of times during the year, first time was last Jan-Feb when we had a cold snap, then again in august during a hot spell,

I intended to get around to investigating but as the code never came back on both occasions it was soon forgotten about,

This time it came back and after resetting the fault code it came back after every second start up, i need the car for a couple of long journeys over the Xmas period so bit the bullet and had my local garage sort it.

[Kris82]

We have the same car (vrs 2.0 Cr tdi) which is interesting and I know a lot of the vag range use the exact same pump but don’t see many posts about this particular part. 

Now im wondering if the position of this secondary pump on the cr 2.0 vrs is the actual problem with water/ice etc, as it is very low down on the vrs cr Tdi.

Is yours the cega engine?

[Dave3283]

Sorry @Kris82 only just noticed you had responded, Yeah my car has the CEGA engine, I do think the location of the secondary pump may be the cause of the issues over the last year it threw up the error during cold weather and hot so would suggest the elements affect it,

I googled and the secondary pump does appear to be an issue in the VAG range especially Audi as most of the threads I found were on Audi forums.

Since having mine replaced I have had no further issues and the fault code has not returned so hopefully that's the last I will see of this issue during my ownership 

[AVHreplica]

On 20/12/2018 at 23:25, Kris82 said:

Its design is to pump coolant around the engine after you’ve turned engine off if temps are really high.

After a hard run we should be running the car stationary for a bit anyway to cool things down. But hey hoe humans are lazy so this little pump does it for us. 

Does also the TSI range petrol have this kind of supporting pump as they are turbo too?

[Dave3283]

I am afraid @AkisVH I have no Idea I have only ever had Diesel Octaiva's, 

 

A quick google does show up the secondary pumps across the VAG range for the TSI engines so I would assume they do.

[Kris82]

Yes they do 100%