Am I getting a good deal?

I have had slight overheating / coolant loss with my Sharan for about 5 months, which has worsenend now to the point where I have to top up the coolant by about a litre a day. From reading the forums I think its my waterpump which a local garage has offered to change, along with AUX belt (which does need doing) and CAM belt (115k miles) for £250. Its an X reg 1.9Tdi 115.

I dont think its the thermostat as the temp gets to 90 degs and no more except for hills on motorways when it flies up. (Ive stopped everytime before its got to the red on the temp guage)

Also, the blower heater goes cold when the engine is running faster (over 2 - 2.5k revs). From reading another thread I am now worried it might be the head / gasket and I might be about to waste £250 on a water pump. When the engine is idling there is still a trickle of water running back into the header tank. There was also some black sooty / oily deposits in the header tank.

Also, The bottom hose is never hot, even when the temp guage has shot up.

Any help/advice greatly appreciated!

if you think its the head gasket go & get a die test done & a pressure test it cost me about £12 on a galaxy i had a while ago...is there any mayonase looking substance when you remove your dip stick at the tip or on your oil filler cap...and £250 is ok for a cam belt kit &water pump mine cost me £220 last year..

The bottom hose should be cooler than top hose.Its the `cooler` water going into the engine.I`ve known the impellars on the pumps to expand when hot and not circulate.ok when cold.

I have had the water pump changed now but the temp still goes up on longer hills. I had the car fully loaded coming back from holiday and every long hill did cause the temp to rise to about 110 degs and cooled back down after the top of the hill. There are no mayo looking substances on the dipstick or oil filler cap. There is a lot of air in the header tank when I stop and release the cap. I have had a head test done which came back negative (the test was done from the water header tank, looking for exhaust gasses sucking air through a die). After one hill the oil warning level light on the dash came on so I stopped at the next garage and topped up. I have never had to put oil in it before. (Had the car about 8 months now).

have you had the oil cooler checked this to gives the same issues also this may sound a little daft but have you checked the header bottle cap this is a pressurised cap so you will have a pressure release when loosened i 2 was loosing a touch of water the other week had it all checked nothing so done the easy thing first & replaced the cap which vw also stock on the shelf so you know its a problem just by that...no more leaking water....
hope this helps...by the way has your new water pump got a brass impeller on it or a plastic one as mentioned in earlier post...should be brass..
:beerchug:

yes, after the problem initially started I swapped the botlle cap. Is it an easy/cheap job to get the oil cooler checked?

PS Much appreciated all the advice here!

Any idea how much it will cost (inc labour) to replace the oil cooler?

you can tell if the oil cooler is on its way out,failed as there will be oil in the header tank floating on the surface......which you have answered yourself which if id have read your post properly i would have seen that you have this already...other than that i would have said thermostat...by the way the trickle back to the header bottle is normal on tick over... iv spoke to the vag indie who works on my bus in ellesmere port about how much for parts & labour he said around £150...
:beerchug:

Doesnt seem like the oil cooler then. Thermostat checked out ok too :( I'm thinkin it could be a hairline crak in the head which only causes trouble when under pressure for quite a while (like a long hill). Thanks for all your advice though! I cant afford to get the head done so I guess I'll have to avoid long hills at higher speeds. Thank goodness I live in nice flat Wales!!!!

Don't know if it would help but I would try a bottle of "K-Seal". You add it to the coolant and it is "supposed" to help if there is a cylinder head problem etc.

I used it years ago on an old Astra diesel that I couldn't afford to get the head sorted on and managed to keep the car going for a few years after that.

My local motor factor stocks it but you can also buy it online.

Another thing is radiator sealant (bars leaks etc). That "cured" a head problem in a friends Rover for a few months BUT I would be wary as it can clog up water channels etc.

Apparently the K-Seal stuff won't do that.
Might be worth a try given your problems.

Good luck

if you read what you have put in the first post ie:When the engine is idling there is still a trickle of water running back into the header tank. There was also some black sooty / oily deposits in the header tank....

these are the symtoms of a failed oil cooler...oil cooler around £60 ..labour an hour or 2 your looking around £100- £150 mark id say..

dont use k-seal in your TDI it wont work & just make it worse,believe me iv done it in the past on a tdi galaxy not good...

check the cooler....where in wales are you...