Water pump failed...gggrrrrrrr!!

Well, the water pump failed on my 2000 Golf at 112K miles. I'm not sure the motor is damaged, until I get the parts and get it back together.

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and what or if they had motor damage. The timing belt was damaged, the motor stalled, but does not appear way out of time. I'll check it tonight.

I'm also wondering what the general practice people are using to replace this item, given its critical location. I have heard every timing belt change, others say every other.

I've heard of them failing internally or leaking but I haven't heard of your type of failure. My guess is that there is some valve damage or lifter damage to the engine. Really the only thing going wrong with the timing belt that hasn't damaged the engine has been tensioner failures. If the internal spring fails and it loses it's tension (but is still intact) it gets the fuel pump out of time just enough that it stalls the car, but not enough out of time to damage valves.
Keep us informed. I hope you were one of the lucky ones!

I should say that I did pull the valve cover and I can't see any damage to the cam or cam followers. Not that it means anything.

When I did my second TB replacement at 100K miles is when I got mine changed. It's fairly rare for a water pump to fail on any car with less than 100K miles so that or your second TB change, whichever comes first would be my advice. I checked with VWoA and you'd think it would be a part of their service schedule but it's not and they don't project past 100K miles.

I hope all everything turns out well for you.

For the price, I plan on replacing mine at every TB change just to have peace of mind.

But Slave, There is no such thing as piece of mind with a new part as many either fail early on, or last a long long time.
There is a good chance that you replace a perfectly good part with a defective one.
I think every 100,000 is fine. At the coolant flush schedule.

When the belt changes were at 40k/60kmiles, every other belt change was a good rule of thumb.

Now that the belt changes are more like 80k/100kmiles, it should be done with every timing belt.

On an ALH engine, the pump should be done with the belt. I have noted leakiy pumps at 75-85k consistently. Not necessarily leaking on the ground, but leaking(see bottom of pump for pink spooge). Every timing belt ABSOLUTELY.

As for damage, remove the camshaft and wipe off the lifters. Any damage? Replace them after removing and repairing the head. If no damage, remove the lifters and place them on a flat surface in order. Measure the distance from the top edge of the lifter(actually the bottom edge..remember they are upside down) and the contact surface for the valve top. This is a smal circular area in the center of the lifter. With a steel rule, it can be easily measured. Any differences? Replace the lot,....after removing the head and checking for damage.

Sorry for the bad news man but this is the only way to be sure. I am at 100% no failures following a situation like that due to cautiousness and checking everything twice or more. I hope your engine is OK. Keep in touch and good luck. PM me if you need any advice or thoughts......

Take a look at the parts, the original pump has a plastic impeller. I have a co worker who had a hard impact in the rear of the car. After the repair, his impeller was split in half. (a gasser) The parts appear identical. (his insurance refused to pay also.)

I just did my timing belt(2nd) and replaced the pump. The replacement part was an alloy impeller. At 207,000 km,s There was no pink spooge, or evidence of deterioration of the water pump. I agree, for an inexpensive part, replace it with the extended life belt.

Did you see the failed part? I have heard of other types of failures.

One of the other failure was even harder to see, the impeller comes loose on the shaft, upon disassembly there appears no fault.

Tough one for sure. I hope the belt didn't slip. This is one more reason I like to change my oil from underneath the car. A good look around for any leakage or abnormality is a good oppourtunity to do a little preventative work when a fault is suspected. Usually much cheaper than reactive work.

Craig B

I have always changed the oil from underneath. This car (in 5 years) never used any antifreeze. I bought a gallon of G12 when the car was new and maybe added a pint in all that time. Never had any evidence of leakage. I changed the TB my self a about 70K. The car was never driven hard or wrecked.

I'll try to get some pics to show you guys what happened. Aside from the massive fuid loss, removal of the TB cover shows the slightly scored timing belt and the Water Pump pulley sitting there cock-eyed.

It appears that the bearing failed. I'll get it out of there tonight or tommorrow and post pics.

Thanks all for the encouragement!

So when we buy a tdi, most people are looking to save some money on a car with excellent mileage, but instead of spending $45 you possibly cost yourself thousands down the road...call it insurance people, you pay it so your arse is covered, don't cheap out on your maintenece because it will ALWAYS come back to you. Come on, for the price of a tank of fuel you do things right...do you just change one brake at a time and call it good? No! (well, maybe if you don't like yourself).

Sucks, and no real warning....Even when you are proactive in looking around...machines can still bite us. Going under the car at oil changes I think is still a good idea, check out the driveshaft boots, look for spare parts floating around.

Given the longer belt life now, I would reccomend changing the pump each time. Cheap insurance I guess. I was just looking at my old one, change the oring and it looks brand new....207,000 kilometers.

I hope your engine has no other damage.

Craig B

I checked the timing of the engine and I think I ducked a major bullet!! It seems the only thing that came out of timing was the injection pump (due to alittle slack in the timing belt. I brought the engine to TDC and the cam and lower end lined up perfectly! I will get the parts tonight, so I decided to clean my intake this weekend while the car was down. It was amazing this car still ran fairly well, 42 MPG in town, 50 MPG highway.

Take a look at the parts, the original pump has a plastic impeller. I have a co worker who had a hard impact in the rear of the car. After the repair, his impeller was split in half. (a gasser) The parts appear identical. (his insurance refused to pay also.)

Click to expand...

Ironically, I have been sandwiched and killed 4-legged critters with my car...when it came to the timing belt and water pump change..the plastic impeller stayed in tact (good for me).

I have a metal impeller water pump now (since that's what Metal Man uses and sells)

Great news, clean her up and make her go....

Luck of the draw during impacts...my coworker blames the plastic impeller, but from the amount of discussion in here, its not exactly a common problem. A problem, but not to everyone.

As long as we continue to make machines, they will break, and it keeps me employed!!

Craig

FYI: The car is repaired and running better than ever after an intake cleaning! What was interesting here was that water pump had a very tiny leak. Not enough to drip out the bottom to be seen. After looking at the failed water pump bearing, I noticed it had anti-freeze residue and rust on some rollers.

Car had 112K. Original TB changed at 70K. I feel VERY lucky and will always change water pump with TB.