2011 Gti petrol, loosing coolant

[johnvw]

Hi to All,
i have been topping up the coolant regularly over the last 18 months. Wife came home, reservoir was empty, red warning light on. Filled reservoir, all looked good, two short trips empty again with liquid on the floor.
Best guess is the water pump is leaking.
idled engine, no drips found with full reservoir, possibly leaks under pressure but can not explain the water pooled under the engine when my wife arrived home.

Youtube has a good water pump replacement video that I may attempt.

Has anyone replaced the water pump, any difficulties and special tools required ?

I am not a mechanic, just a tinkerer having replaced the brake fluid, dsg fluid and filter, spark plugs and coils on various occasions, confidence is high but aware of my limitations.

Any thoughts or pending problems encounted would be most welcomed.

Best regards
john

[Keithuk]

You need to get the cooling system pressure tested. That will show if the water pump is leaking.

What's the mileage as they normally replace the water pump when they do a timing belt.

[johnvw]

Dear KeithUK,
thankyou for the reply.
77,000 kilometres. I am in two minds about replacing the water pump, myself. Where I would enjoy the challenge and just hate to pay for unknown techs touching the car, there are a few areas that I am still unsure about. If I did the repair I would do a lot of cleaning up, which a Tech would not do and I possibly would not be happy paying for. YouTube information is very good except some important areas are glossed over and not explained. Previously I have found little things like removing clip connectors and additional bolts not mentioned very time consuming.
Not quite sure just what to do, interested in seeing the mk8 in 2019/20 although my wife likes the Merc 200 / 250. The VW and Audi Forum just provides so much information for members.

Best regards
john

[Crasher]

EA888 engine water pump failure is very common but they are easy to do, I did one on an A5 a couple of weeks ago and I could not get one genuine, they were on back order. I recommend changing the whole unit with housing when buying an aftermarket pump and change the belt as well.

[johnvw]

Hi to All,
Well it was the water pump. Dealership did the replacement ( oh well ). What was interesting was that the tech removed the front to gain better access ( as I was told ), this was interesting as all the youtubes did not show any need to remove the front.
77K, time to move the old girl on.
Regards
john