Evening Everyone,

 

I've been dealing with an overheating issue the past year and after doings tons of research and trying other thing, such as replacing the thermostat, I believe the water pump to be the culprit. My car's a 2014 Octavia 2.0 TDI vRS.

 

There's even a thread on this forum about it - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/453298-the-mk3-octavia-tdi-water-pump-thread

As well as multiple YT videos on it.

 

I've seen people advising, and YT videos showing, replacing the water pump with the non-electric version to prevent this happening again. It's time that I change the timing belt so will hopefully be able to fix my water pump issue at the same time. However I'm not 100% sure which route to take, electric or non-electric.

 

Pros and cons that I can think of.

 

Pros

• Cost wise obviously the non electric is a lot cheaper, around £100 cheaper last I checked.
• No shield to get stuck, which is most likely the current cause of my over heating issue.

 

Cons

• Engine will take longer to get to optimal working temperature. So less efficient. Don't know how much of a difference that would make to my MPG.
• It's not the exact part that the engine was built/came with. The solenoid is screwed to a blank plate, YT videos say this stops the ECU from throwing up errors. But could this have negative effects on other things?

 

I'm new to the forum so sorry if this isn't the kind of thing that should be posted. I just really want to get the overheating issue fixed and I'd preferably like to get others opinions before I buy the water pump. I was interested whether anyone has replaced their water pump with the non electric version, which you'd go with or just your general thoughts on this. I couldn't find any posts that talked about electric vs non-electric water pumps, maybe I'm using the forum wrong and there are posts that cover this already?

 

 

@BAXTVR

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Are you doing this conversion yourself and fitting this non-electrical pump?

 

What actually have you done in the past year of dealing with the overheating other than changing the thermostat? 

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How many miles has the car done,

and why did you not just change the water pump or has it been changed already on a 8 year old car?

Edited 12 September, 20223 yr by roottoot

Morning @roottoot

 

Sorry that I didn't include more info, I didn't want to bombard people with a wall of text that might not be relevant to the post.

 

Are you doing this conversion yourself and fitting this non-electrical pump?

Yes I've been looking at doing the belt and water pump change myself. Haven't decided on the pump yet, was hoping to get some other opinions before I bought one or the other.

 

What actually have you done in the past year of dealing with the overheating other than changing the thermostat? 

Honestly other than replacing the thermostat and flushing the coolant, nothing else. But the way mine overheats sounds exactly like the experiences others have described with the failing water pump.

 

There are quite a few YT videos on VW and Audi 1.4/1.6/2.0 TDI engines overheating with the switchable water pumps, who suggest replacing the pump with the non switchable. I believe there was one video where a Skoda taxi garage mechanic said they switched to non-switchable pumps as the one's they had fitted with the switchable kept coming back in. I didn't want to fit a new pump for it to stick again, which is why I was thinking of doing the same and just wondered if anyone else had or what others thought of doing so.

 

How many miles has the car done,

and why did you not just change the water pump or has it been changed already on a 8 year old car?

50k miles and I don't think the pump has been changed, at least from the paperwork that was handed over. Thought I'd do the belt at the same time as I doubt that's been done either. Then I came across people who replaced the pump with the non-switchable.

I know it's over the advised time for a belt change but it's just tipped over 50k. I've seen other makes VW, Audi, etc with the same/similar engine with higher change intervals but regardless it will be done soon. Even if it's just for my own piece of mind.

 

This will be my first big job, at least big for me, but doesn't look too complicated from looking through the workshop manuals and helpful videos going through every step. Just with people suggesting non switchable I wanted to see what others thought before I ordered the parts.

I realise it's past the age the pump should have already been replaced so maybe I'm overthinking this and just replacing it with the switchable will be fine until the next change interval comes round. 

Sorry for wasting your time if this turns out to be a pointless post.

 

 

@BAXTVR

@J.R.is a member that might be interested in your situation and might be able to offer some input. 

Hi @BAXTVR how has it been going with the new non electric version of the water pump? I also am planning to replace my existing water pump with the non-switchable non electric one to prevent further problems. But someone told me, this might bring the EML due to exhaust emission will be changing, did not make sense to me such little thing would increase emissions to bring an EML. So if you managed to change it, how has it been since then? Thank you.

17 hours ago, YorkshireL said:

Hi @BAXTVR how has it been going with the new non electric version of the water pump? I also am planning to replace my existing water pump with the non-switchable non electric one to prevent further problems. But someone told me, this might bring the EML due to exhaust emission will be changing, did not make sense to me such little thing would increase emissions to bring an EML. So if you managed to change it, how has it been since then? Thank you.

The EML won’t come on for this.

 

The downside is warm up times will be slightly increased and fuel consumption will very very slightly increase as the car is a tiny bit less efficient.

 

That is the only difference and won’t always be noticeable by the driver.

 

positives are no shroud to possibly seize on.