Water pump replacement without timing belt replacement

Octavian

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Location
UK
TDI
Skoda Superb 2.5TDI V6, Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI
Hi

Last year, my car (A4 platform, TDI, ASV engine) went for the first time to stealer to do the timing belt and replace water pump. Timing belt job went just fine. But since then there is a small leakage, not enough to successfully argue for a warranty repair, but enough to annoy. I add about 0.5litre per month, more in hot weather.

I am thinking that either they damaged the seal during water pump replacement, or they left old seal in and did not put a new one.

So, with this in mind, is there a reliable way of relieving tension on timing belt and removing/reinserting the water pump without the need to redo various retensioning hocus-pocus?

I was thinking about marking all gears and the belt to make sure they end up in the same relative positions.

Any opinions, please shout.

As a side note, the car was fine for 4 years with me doing the servicing and minor repairs. First visit to the dealer and problems... I guess I should have expected it.
 

runonbeer

Maintenance EnthusiastVendor
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Austin, TX/Chapel Hill, NC
TDI
'00 Golf 02M, '10 Golf 02E, '02 UTE 02M
not enough to successfully argue for a warranty repair
I think you have an argument for warranty repair. especially if it started doing this immediately following the pump replacement. If one of my customers was losing coolant following a belt change I would absolutely fix it, no question.
 

BleachedBora

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Gresham, Oregon
TDI
'81 DMC-12, '15 GL350 CDI 275 hp/448 tq - '81 Caddy CJAA, '05 E320 CDI 250hp/450 tq, '23 ID4 AWD Pro S Plus
x2
All the gurus I know of would fix it (and that's quite a few!). I'd complain.
-BB
 

Mass. Wine Guy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 21, 2001
Location
Ipswich, Massachusetts
TDI
5-speed, 2015 Golf S 6-speed manual; 2015 Golf Sportwagen SEL 6-speed manual
Raise a ruckus with the dealer. It is their fault and their duty to make it right. If they balk, contact VW and open a case. Don't delay, though. Maybe the leak is just the beginning of a totally broken pump.
 

mrGutWrench

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
Octavian said:
(snip) So, with this in mind, is there a reliable way of relieving tension on timing belt and removing/reinserting the water pump without the need to redo various retensioning hocus-pocus? (snip)
__. No. Even if you could keep the timing (which you can't), you'd flood the belt with coolant - it' almost impossible not to dump all the coolant out of the engine; some are good enough to save some but mostly most will drop most of it. So there are two reasons that you can't.

__. I personally would have been down there the week after and on their back like a dirty shirt but that's past now. But if it's been leaking since they did the work, they owe you a new waterpump ... and if coolant has contaminated the belt, a belt, and tensioner, and engine bolts, etc. (Actually, they'll owe you the engine bolts anyway, I think.)
 

BleachedBora

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Gresham, Oregon
TDI
'81 DMC-12, '15 GL350 CDI 275 hp/448 tq - '81 Caddy CJAA, '05 E320 CDI 250hp/450 tq, '23 ID4 AWD Pro S Plus
If they even do the engine bolts....
 

Octavian

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Location
UK
TDI
Skoda Superb 2.5TDI V6, Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI
Sorry, was on a trip (in another car).

The leak is slow enough for the workshop to argue that it is not there, the usual "unable to observe what customer reported". You'd need to run the car for 2 weeks to notice.

Sounds like I overlooked the fact that the belt might be contaminated from faulty replacement. I'll have a look at the car later this month, if there are any signs of coolant on the belt, that would be a good argument for warranty repair.

Thanks for advice
 

Drivbiwire

Zehntes Jahr der Veteran
Joined
Oct 13, 1998
Location
Boise, Idaho
TDI
2013 Passat TDI, Newmar Ventana 8.3L ISC 3945, 2016 E250 BT, 2000 Jetta TDI
Have another shop inspect it (VW dealer) diagnose it and take it back to these guys. Stack the deck against them and force them to remedy the work.

G12 won't hurt the belt so don't worry about that. Fuel and oil not so good....It's not that it breaks the belt down but the fact that the oil and fuel attract dust that grinds on the belt's surfaces. This erodes the belt and damages the contact areas increasing the wear rate of the belt to an unknown quantity...

DB
 
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