Not on VAG engines, but I commonly hear of waterpumps going not long after a cambelt change. It really should be done imho, for the sake of a few quid.

I'll always change the pump. I think usually the cambelt "kits" do come with one no? If not, I'll invest in one - should be easy to change while the belt is being done. My mate did my pd100 one, and it only took about 2.5 hours.

out of interest, how many peoples cars have had a water pump fail?!? (fabia vRS, or other PD130, ric says he's never had to change one on a galaxy) is it only garages that point out this weakness to sell water pumps? or have there been many failures? I would be interested to know, I've never seen a thread entitled "my water pump failed and ate my engine!"

i've seen more dual mass flywheels go on the PD engine than water pumps , we never ever ask the customer whether they want the water pump changed whilst they have the cam belt done , and we see some pretty high mileage taxi use Galaxys , maybe as the PD 130 gets a bit older in the Fabia we might see more water pump failures but as sharkrider says how many threads have we had about water pump failure on the PD engine

They don't come with the kit Jason, but the part was about 75 quid IIRC for the plastic one (my old one was refitted - but I am getting that metal one fitted at 60k now when they do more work).

Apparently the pump is more likely to fail on a remapped car, if your car is standard it is under warranty so I wouldn't touch it in that case, as it IS under warranty

i've seen more dual mass flywheels go on the PD engine than water pumps , we never ever ask the customer whether they want the water pump changed whilst they have the cam belt done , and we see some pretty high mileage taxi use Galaxys , maybe as the PD 130 gets a bit older in the Fabia we might see more water pump failures but as sharkrider says how many threads have we had about water pump failure on the PD engine

That's certainly fair comment and I do think the breaking up of the plastic impellers on VAG water pumps is mainly related to the petrol engines.

However, it does seem false economy to me for the sake of just £30 (ish) for a new water pump not to replace the pump with a metal impellered version when the belt's off as it's the belt that drives the pump and any failure (bearing or impeller) of the pump could cause the belt to break or jump with totally disastrous consequences for the engine. :(

It's relatively cheap to replace the water pump at the same time as the cambelt's being done but expensive in labour terms to do on it's own. If it's not replaced at 60,000 miles then you're probably looking at running it to 120,000 miles for the next belt change and yes, it may well be ok but I like the peace of mind that comes from not having to worry about old pump bearings seizing or collapsing & impellers that have seen that sort of mileage disintegrating !

Certainly I'll not replace a belt on any of my vehicles without doing the pump & tensioner as I consider it false economy not to, but hey it's your engines !

I understand all the comments about "you may as well do it, for the sake of a few quid, while everythings off to do the belt anyway" and I appreciate the logic in that, but for me personally, I'm afraid I refuse to assume that a part of my engine is going to fail. I assume it's going to last at least the life of the warranty..... I simply couldn't get my head round buying a car with a faulty part that I can expect to fail at 60k! lol.. I would never buy a new car again if thats the case...

everyone disses the citroen mark for reliability (even me!) but I ran a saxo VTR for 4 years, and did 155,000 miles in that time, and the engine only ever had "normal" services at a citroen garage, and was still working as new, with no warrantry repair work on it (the engine) when I got rid.... this is what I expect, I really hope I cant expect components on a VAG engine to die within 100k.....

I really hope I cant expect components on a VAG engine to die within 100k.....

I can equally understand this way of viewing things but unfortunately experience shows that sometimes inherent faults occur viz. the disintegrating plastic impellers on vag water pumps in petrol engined vag vehicles.

A quick search on uk-mkivs forum will reveal this is a common failure and often they do not even make it to 20,000 miles.

This is what remains of someone who posts on here RobbyP's water pump:

Each to their own but I think I'll stick with the "belts & braces" approach when it comes to things like this.

Frankly the plastic impeller is a cr*p design and it should have been replaced by VAG ages ago, along with the faulty twin-speed fan design they still use. Either of them failing can cause major engine problems without you noticing untill it's already gone badly wrong.

I agree with the sentiment of 'it should not go wrong' - but it annoyingly does :(

Apparently the pump is more likely to fail on a remapped car

genuine question please don't flame

why would the pump be more likely to fail on a remapped car :confused:

surely its still pumping the same amount of coolant around the system under the same pressures and similar temperatures , the engine won't rev more than about 5k even with a remap so the pump bearings aren't getting any extra speed put through them

WW_VRS , i think you were extremely unlucky with your cooling system problems that you've mentioned in other threads ,and i do take on board all that has been said about it being worthwhile changing the water pump whilst the cam belt is changed , and if i've still got my VRS at 60k ,then i would certainly consider dong it

why would the pump be more likely to fail on a remapped car :confused:

Beats me ! :confused:

So it's around £550 for the big cambelt service for a vRS at a main dealer? Thats not bad at all really , when you consider how much it costs to service things like Evos and Imprezas , where the bills can get into 4 figures easily.