Water pump leaking & housing replacement costs-Passat MY18 132TSI

[AndyBerry]

Hello guys,
This is my second post and I’d like to hear what you guys think about replacing water pump and it’s housing.

My drive is 2018 Passat 132 TSI model.
On the drive way home, I got warning signs on dashboard says CHECK Your coolant level and the local mechanics had a quick look and said it is to do with water pump leakage. I remember mechanics topped it off for me around Mar or Apr, so it is about 3-4 months as another warning sign showed again.

And the cost is going to be around $1400-$1650. I wonder if you guys know trustworthy mechanics in the southeast region of Melbourne to bring my car in to have a quick look (without incurring $200 diagnosis fee)?

And my second question is my car is still under warranty till Dec 23 after I called local VW dealership. But they said they will charge $200 diagnosis fee to have it fully checked (why it is leaking) and it is after that they will come to an conclusion on why they will repair it for me. I wonder is that normal? Did anyone get told similar things when you went there? Not sure how much they are going to charge me if it is not free?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Andy

[curly747]

Late reply to this. I had a water pump fail on B8 passat. It was out of warranty but VW paid half. I think the water pumps have quality issues and there are some class actions in USA about it. VW paid 50% of cost of mine even out of warranty. My dealer also charges a diagnosis fee if you want something checked out. But if you go ahead with repair then you only pay for repair. They are probably sick of having customers come in for diagnosis and then get repair done elsewhere. If you have a failed water pump and its under warranty then replacement should be free unless you have abused the car somehow.

[Lucas_R]

Leaking water pumps would have to be the most common issue on most modern cars, and the 2.0TSI engine as found in many VW/Audi/Skoda cars is very well known for it. If your water pump lasts more than about 50,000km and/or 4 years then consider yourself lucky.

They are made from plastic and get brittle with hundreds of heat cycles and will start to leak.

If you want a trustworthy mechanic in the South East of Melbourne go see TTY Euro in Mordialloc or Underground Performance in Cheltenham.

[curly747]

If your water pump lasts more than about 50,000km and/or 4 years then consider yourself lucky.

Thats just terrible isn't it. Particularly because they are very expensive to replace.

[Hillbilly]

Passat timing belt and water pump cost me about $1400 7years ago so dont know what its up to now

[curly747]

Passat timing belt and water pump cost me about $1400 7years ago so dont know what its up to now

I was quoted by dealer $2250 for water pump and timing belt Sep 2022.

[Lucas_R]

I was quoted by dealer $2250 for water pump and timing belt Sep 2022.

No doubt you could knock $300-400+ off that price by avoiding the dealership and using a good independent VW/Audi specialist mechanic.

Your car is a diesel (correct me if im mistaken but I believe the Passat Alltrack are all diesels) so the waterpump design on the diesel engine is an older more traditional (and more reliable) design compared to what they use on the petrol engines these days, and its simply recommended to replace it when you are doing the timing belt as its a cheap part and makes sense to change it while you have access to it even if its not leaking.

[curly747]

Your car is a diesel (correct me if im mistaken but I believe the Passat Alltrack are all diesels) so the waterpump design on the diesel engine is an older more tradditional (and more reliable) design compared to what they use on the petrol engines these days

I hope you are right about the diesels having a better water pump. The water pump on my 2.0TDI failed about 32k. Car had been serviced a month prior by VW and there was no sign of any leaks. I was driving through a tunnel and happened to be looking at the dash and noticed temp gauge was a little over 90 but it was rising very fast. Normally its bang on 90C. The warning light and alarm came on maybe ten seconds after that and i stopped as soon as i found a safe spot. VW said water pump internals failed. Its undermined my confidence a bit in taking the car on a long trip. The annoying thing is you have no reason to think the new water pump will be any better than the old one that failed. If it doesn't happen again for ten years then fine. But if it happens again in next few years i think i might sell the car.

[206er]

Hi Andy, just saw this now but interested to know how you got on? My water pump went in my previous B8 206TSI at 3yrs / 30,000kms and VW Solitaire in SA replaced it fully under warranty without any issues. Hope you had the same experience in VIC.

[jets]

VW said water pump internals failed. The annoying thing is you have no reason to think the new water pump will be any better than the old one that failed.

I have come to know that the water pumps on VWs leak/fail @ before the timing belt. I have replaced mine [3 separate diesel vehicles] with pumps with a metal impeller.