7 hours ago, Bap33 said:

The well known water pump issue is not about leaks. Sorry, I forgot to explain...

VAG engineers designed a pump which is off when the engine starts cold. When its hot enough, the water pump runs as expected. The problem is that this pump tends to "stick" and remains off when the engine is hot enough, which leads to engine overheating...

I agree on the diesel or small petrol engines.. Incidentally if you turn the heater to full hot and keep revs below 1500 they dont overheat when stuck so you can get it to a workshop.

I was looking at a EA 888 Gen3 B, The pump is on the gearbox side and run from a rubber belt. The plastic housings crack (bit like something they were smoking when it was designed) causing minor leaks initially, then easily spotted pink crystal formation from the Evo coolant. You need a flexible inspection camera to see them without stripping parts off in the early stages. Look at BAZ Merideths YouTube channel where he did a pump on an L&K in the last year or so, shows the housing cracking up close.

Found it, scroll to 4 mins 50 ish