1.4 TSI Coolant Leak From Water Pump

[Plantman]

I've been loosing a bit of coolant all of a sudden and it looks like I've got a leak from the coolant pump housing.  This lives on the right hand side of the engine. Mine is the 1.4 TSI 103 KW CHPA unit, 

 

Anyone had this before and know the rough price for replacement.  Hoping it is just a gasket replacement but could end up being the full pump.

 

Update

Price for the pump, bolts and belt is £243. 

 

Labour to do the job was quoted at £525 all in. 

 

Picture 1 shows the location of pump, picture 2 shows where the coolant collects (handy in a recess - though I've mopped this up) and picture 3 shows where the coolant is dripping from.

Edited 22 January by Plantman

[varaderoguy]

There is a known weakness with the original waterpump on the MK3 Octavia's (pre-facelifted).

The waterpump's disintegrate internally; the new VAG design stops that from happening. (edited)

 

Cambelt and Waterpump is done all in a oner - budget for between £450 and £500 for VAG genuine service.

https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/d300a459-5ef6-433f-a49f-65f3638efaa1

Edited 23 January by varaderoguy

[Plantman]

Cheers. Water pump on this model is not part of the cambelt.  The water pump lives on the other side of the block with its own belt.  Driven by the exhaust camshaft.

[PetrolDave]

49 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

There is a known weakness with the original waterpump on the MK3 Octavia's (pre-facelifted).

AFAIK that only applies to the TDI, and definitely not to the EA211 engine (1.4TSI and 1.5TSI).

[classic]

I fitted a new water pump to mine last year for pretty much the same leak. I fitted a new genuine Skoda water pump which is the whole thing including thermostats and housing. I paid £243.80 inc vat for the pump, belt and 5 litres of premixed coolant. You can buy just the pump part from motor factors but I decided it was better to just change the whole thing as it all has to come off anyway.

It isn’t too bad of a job which took me about 2 hours. You have to remove the battery and battery tray and air intake pipe to the turbo to get access and you need to use a torque wrench to put the correct tension on the belt.

couple of pics from when it was apart, 3rd photo is the old pump with the belt cover removed ;

Edited 22 January by classic

[Plantman]

17 minutes ago, classic said:

I fitted a new water pump to mine last year for pretty much the same leak. I fitted a new genuine Skoda water pump which is the whole thing including thermostats and housing. I paid £243.80 inc vat for the pump, belt and 5 litres of premixed coolant. You can buy just the pump part from motor factors but I decided it was better to just change the whole thing as it all has to come off anyway.

It isn’t too bad of a job which took me about 2 hours. You have to remove the battery and battery tray and air intake pipe to the turbo to get access and you need to use a torque wrench to put the correct tension on the belt.

couple of pics from when it was apart, 3rd photo is the old pump with the belt cover removed ;

 

Awesome, thanks Classic. Top work there on the replacement.

 

Good to know I am not the only one to have this fail since not much comes up for a coolant leak on these engines. 

Price sounds bang on from Skoda for the OEM part too. Not too silly considering its a pump and thermostat in one.

 

Cheers for the pictures too.

Mine is on 34k but is a 2014 model so guess its the issue of having a plastic pump assembly on a metal block which shows the weakness - the heating and cooling cycles perhaps.

 

 

 

[classic]

The actual pump part is alloy. Once I got it off I could see it was actually leaking from the impeller seal and then running along and appearing more or less where yours is.

Edited 22 January by classic

[Plantman]

Ah gotcha! Thanks for the info. Really helpful!

[fabdavrav]

It is a well known fault..the seals fail...The full item is the aluminium impellor housing which bolts to the engine block..so the seals there can fail. Then there is the plastic thermostat housing which can crack & the seals between it & the impellor block can also fail. Whilst you have the water pump off, you might as well replace the toothed drive belt. It has a 3 stage torque down sequence for the bolts to get the correct tension on the housing & the belt!....

 

I have the same CHPA engine....& after 9yrs mine was leaking late last year....Put car into dealers (where I bought the car 9yrs ago) for MOT, & they didn't comment on it!...So I said what about the coolant leak?..."£100 diagnostic fee".....to which I said I know what is leaking & where from & there is a TSB for the fault!...So they asked for a photo to be sent...so I did...The Service Manager waived the diagnostic fee & the car was booked in.

 

The bill was cheap (they did a deal on labour for me due to above & missing it in the MOT), so I won't quote the full charge. Lets just say it wasn't much more than the total parts cost!

 

Parts cost inc. VAT:-

04E-121-600-CS, Water pump = £195.60

04E-121-605-E, Toothed Belt = £24.42

G12-E05-0A2, 1lt of Coolant (x2) = £16.80 (£8.40 each)

[Plantman]

Awesome thanks fabdavrav.  Prices seem similar to mine that have been quoted from the Skoda dealer.

 

I will be going to a VAG independent though. They use genuine parts and it seemed like the pump came with the belt and the bolts as a kit when I called Skoda parts.

As you say I expect the bolts are supposed to be one use only or something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 hours ago, classic said:

The actual pump part is alloy. Once I got it off I could see it was actually leaking from the impeller seal and then running along and appearing more or less where yours is.

Cheers for the pictures too Classic. Nice to see the beast and compare with a new unit.

[Plantman]

How was bleeding the coolant system after this job by the way?  I've seen some reports of it being a bit of a mare getting all the air out of the system on these cooling systems.

 

Have several days worth of topping up or did it generally go ok?

 

Cheers!

[classic]

It was easy to bleed it normally. I know the manual says to vacuum fill it but I filled it slowly, and ran the engine. Checked all the pipes to the turbo and charge air cooler got hot etc. rechecked it the next day and it needed a small top up and since then the level hasn’t moved off max.

Before anyone tells me why it should be vaccum filled, I don’t care, it has done 12,000 miles since and no problems.

[Plantman]

Excellent, thanks Classic. Good to hear.

 

I think the only time you might need the vacuum pump option is when the charge cooling system is dismantled and refilled.  

 

I read this on a VAG guide: "The charge-air cooling system needs to be bled after it is opened to ensure a correct cooling output. The system is bled either by using the cooling system charge unit VAS 6096 or by using the guided function “Filling and bleeding cooling system”. Please note the instructions in ELSA."

 

Cheers again!

[Plantman]

Just as a follow up - pump replaced by the local indi VAG garage so fingers crossed tis all good.

 

The old one looks pretty hideous - car has 35k on it and it looks like its been leaking for a while!

Classic was correct, leaking from the impeller seal.