Regular followers of Briskoda will know that  I have recently had to have the waterpump replaced on my 2017 Fabia SEL  estate 110.  I have already posted about that.  I  felt very "cheesed off" to put it mildly  at this happening  at  just under 24000 miles and started researching as to possible reasons. A friend of mine told me that  VAG vehicles went over to plastic water pumps and that got me wondering.  He wasnt sure where  he had seen this, possibly it was  Honest  John.  I have emailed  Skoda  customer services for an answer.

 

                   If my friend is right this is a very shortsighted not to say stupid  decision on the part of  VAG.   Yes, the  plastic one will be lighter but the durability will be definitely less and that could well account for the  early failure of mine.  My friend is usually spot on regarding cars.  My nephew has also  told me that  some Octavias of about the same age as my  Fabia have had waterpump failures too so maybe thats more confirmation that the wrong decision was taken?

 

                 Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its not uncommon. Mercedes now use plastic water pumps on some models.

The thing is why are they failing? Is the plastic part failing or another part?

Skodas are made out of cake, marzipan, jelly and icing.... here's one being built in the Skoda factory.

 

 

 

Simply not so clever

 

Plastic impellors have been around for a very long time, now many vehicles have plastic pump casings as well & that in itself is not a problem at all, VAG have problems with a solenoid operated impellor shroud that enables the vehicle to warm upmuch quicker and the system works remarkably well until the shroud sticks & then it becomes a chocolate teapot.

 

I dont think the problem is due to the extensive use of plastics, more the inevitable complication and reliability issues in chasing emissions targets.

Under every car bonnet I've ever opened have only ever seen a plastic impeller ( the part you top up) and that's a lot of MK3 golf, polos, Skoda's and vauxhall. Never seen another type!

I'm older than you, I can remember water cooled cars without water pumps!

 

Its why bonnets used to be so high.

 

Then they had bronze water pumps with brass impellors and shafts, then new fangled aluminium castings, steel shafts & pressed steel impellors.

 

Then plastic impellors followed by plastic housings.

 

I am surprised that they have still retained a mechanical pump as the primary coolant pump.

 

BTW the plastic thing you are topping up is not the water pump impellor but the expansion tank, at one time they were also brass.

Edited 16 May, 20215 yr by J.R.

  This may/may no tbe of interest to anyone.  I emailed  Skoda customer services 3 times to ask them what the water pumps on  Fabia 3 vehicles made when mine was made and after the third attempt  they replied to say they did not know.,  Make of that what you will.

Why would a Call Centre / Communications manager with a NVQ in computer / keyboards know, they had to ask the technical department and nobody could be bothered with a wind up.

4 hours ago, hetty1 said:

This may/may not be of interest to anyone.  I emailed  Skoda customer services 3 times to ask them what the water pumps on  Fabia 3 vehicles were made of when mine was made and after the third attempt  they replied to say they did not know.

 

When yours was replaced, what did your mechanic say it was made of?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 AG Falco,  Yes,  I  should have thought of that, silly of me.  He said it was plastic.

@hetty1 If it's of any consolation, the water pump on my 2017 110 Yeti failed at 4 years and 15,000 miles. I felt very "cheesed off" too.  Replacement would have cost in excess of £400 if I had not already spent £525 on an extended warranty when I bought the car. Not impressed.

The waterpump problems stretch back a good 10 years on the VW range, metal ones were introduced at some point then quickly reverted back to plastic. The metal ones also failed but caused more damage with mating parts

On 26/05/2021 at 16:10, hetty1 said:

  This may/may no be of interest to anyone.  I emailed  Skoda customer services 3 times to ask them what the water pumps on  Fabia 3 vehicles made when mine was made and after the third attempt  they replied to say they did not know.,  Make of that what you will.

They're an importer's call centre, not a manufacturer's engineering department. What I make of your post is that you have an unrealistic expectation of call centre staff.

 

Oh and BTW VAG have been using plastic water pump impellers since the late 1990s.

 Ken,

 

               You might be right, There really  doesnt seem much point to them at all  if you are right.  I  would have thought they could have found the answer to my question but then again perhaps they didnt try that hard.    If they cant answer questions like mine there really isnt any point them existing at all and  I  wont be wasting my time contacting them again about anything at all; period.