Water pump replacement

[Norman vwp]

Morning Guys
I have a 2005 1.9 TDI 130 Highline with the AWX engine with 82000 which I bought recently and it is a one owner with full VW service.

My question is due to the overheating problems and then head gasket problems which seems to be occuring on these cars, do you think the water pump should have been changed when they did a timing belt change only I contacted the garage that the guy was using,they did a belt change at 76967 but did not change the water pump..

I would have thought a main dealer would have done this while they were replacing the belt and would you advise me to get it done

Thanks
Norman

[caldirun]

Morning Guys
I have a 2005 1.9 TDI 130 Highline with the AWX engine with 82000 which I bought recently and it is a one owner with full VW service.

My question is due to the overheating problems and then head gasket problems which seems to be occuring on these cars, do you think the water pump should have been changed when they did a timing belt change only I contacted the garage that the guy was using,they did a belt change at 76967 but did not change the water pump..

I would have thought a main dealer would have done this while they were replacing the belt and would you advise me to get it done

Thanks
Norman

Having recently changed the cam belt on my tdi, I found the pump impeller stiff untill I eased the bolts off, the impeller was rubbing the rear face. I think this may be the cause of the platic impeller spliting and causing overheating problems. Perhaps this is caused by not using the specified coolant and the incorrect coolant attacking the impeller. I would run it to the next cam belt change but if you get overheating, change the pump.

[rosco]

I had my water pump go a few months back. Ended up doing the job myself. Not a simple task but better than paying 300 quid to VW for a 25 quid pump.
When I spoke to my local VW dealer, they said that they recommend having the water pump changed during the routine cam belt change, which I find rather hard to comprehend considering I had my first cam belt change at that very dealership and there was absolutely no mention of a water pump change! Typical money making scam.
If you do change the water pump go for a QH item which has a metal impeller as oppose to the crap plastic impeller VW use on their own.

[Norman vwp]

Thanks for the information rosco I will follow your advise

[mickel2]

I had a major breakdown at 104,000 miles in my tdi. The water pump was not changed at the time the cambelt was. This is crazy for the price of a new one. It should be manditory in the service schedule. I had no warning, leaks, overheating etc just £700 of parts plus labour. I got intouch with VW UK and they weren't interested. The mechanic who did my rebuild said he will not do a cambelt change on a vehicle which also drives the pump unless the pump is changed as well. The stress on the old pump bearings is very high when a new belt is fitted. The new pump has bronze impeller now.

[Laurie2212]

I had my water pump go a few months back. Ended up doing the job myself. Not a simple task but better than paying 300 quid to VW for a 25 quid pump.
When I spoke to my local VW dealer, they said that they recommend having the water pump changed during the routine cam belt change, which I find rather hard to comprehend considering I had my first cam belt change at that very dealership and there was absolutely no mention of a water pump change! Typical money making scam.
If you do change the water pump go for a QH item which has a metal impeller as oppose to the crap plastic impeller VW use on their own.

These dealers must vary widely - my cambelt, water pump, tensioners and main drive belts were changed by the local Skoda main dealer - they would not do the job without the water pump being changed at the same time as the cambelt due to the possibility of the old pump failing and damaging the new belt etc - I was quite happy with this - if anything broke under the warranty, they could not blame the old pump!