Some common water pump faults across a range of VW/Skoda/Audi

For your information...Thought this might be interesting for Skoda Owners

Some common water pump faults across a range of VW/Skoda/Audi makes and models.

Models Various Audi, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen models with 1.6 & 2.0 TDi engines.

Fault

The engine is overheating, the coolant temperature gauge reads over 110°C and the interior heater is performing poorly. Additionally, cooling system fault codes may be logged in the engine control unit (ECU).

Cause

The water pump fitted to these vehicles has an ECU-controlled collar, which interrupts the coolant flow to make the engine more thermally-efficient. However, the control collar can seize, or the plastic impeller can break-up or come away from the shaft.

Solution

Ensure the engine is cool, then remove the coolant-filler cap. Remove the small pipe to the coolant header tank and hold this over the filler neck of the header tank. There should be a small trickle of coolant flowing with the engine at idle, and this should increase in flow upon increasing the engine speed. If the flow rate does not increase, this would suggest a faulty water pump.

Replace the defective water pump with febi 180948, which features an improved control-collar design; this has been thoroughly tested to eliminate the potential failure of the original water pump. The solenoid valve must be removed from the old original pump and fitted to the new pump, including new seals, which are provided in the kit.

Fill the cooling system with the correct coolant, then vacuum bleed the cooling system.