Who has a Water Pump go bad?

willafb

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Location
FT Meade, MD
TDI
2015 Golf TDI/2015 Golf SE
My 2015 VW Golf had its water pump go bad at 15K, is this a trend for this years engine?
 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
In a quick search, looks like a few including yourself. Not many of these cars to really gather any good information unfortunately. I'm not too worried myself and I'll be out of warranty in 5k more miles.
Also, these pumps are nothing like the water pumps on the GTIs (at least the MK6s) which failed almost certainly before 100k miles. We had ours replaced in our '13 GTI at 35k miles.
 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
the 2015 model year is the first for a new engine.

the main coolant pump, driven by the timing belt, is controlled by the ECU to turn on or off. fairly complicated for a water pump. also has a couple electric coolant pumps

benefit is faster warm up and more mpg,

drawback may be some early failures as they polish the design.

http://pics3.tdiclub.com/data/517/820433_EA288.pdf

has quite a bit of good reading on your engine,

coolant discussion starts on page 18
 

sands80

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2014
Location
Michigan
TDI
2015 Golf TDI 6MT SEL
My water pump started to leak at 6700 miles. Dealer replaced it under warranty- maybe a bad batch of water pumps? Outside than that, at 15500mi and so far so good...

Im really warming up to the EA288 engine, however, I'll hold judgement until it makes it through its first Michigan winter.

Damn shame so many owners are myopic and are opting for the buy back (to the crusher) on the 2015's.
 
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adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
Damn shame so many owners are myopic and are opting for the buy back (to the crusher) on the 2015's.
Are they not fixing the cars for resale rather than disposing? That would be even more environmentally unfriendly to destroy them.


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

nectarguru

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Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Location
Milwaukee
TDI
Black 2015 Golf SE
Mine had a small leak that came and went from about 15k to 37k. The dealer couldn't find the problem until I did inadvertently. They replaced it under the powertrain warranty. Also, before they diagnosed it I was told that they've seen a number of bad water pumps on the 2015s.
 

Ol'Rattler

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Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
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2006 BRM Jetta
Are they not fixing the cars for resale rather than disposing? That would be even more environmentally unfriendly to destroy them.


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
The 2015's are not part of the emission mess although there is/was a hold on selling them to the public.
 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
The 2015's are not part of the emission mess although there is/was a hold on selling them to the public.
Oh, they're definitely included in the mess. We are opting for the fix on the wagon and I'm leaving my golf alone. Though they will likely be far easier/cheaper to bring in line than the '09-'14s. In regards to my previous post, I was almost certain I read that cars would be fixed and resold rather than disposed of. That would make VW look even worse I'm sure!
 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
Well, I may be adding myself to the list. I've got some loss in the coolant bottle and pink residue directly below my serpentine belt :(
 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
The 2015's are not part of the emission mess although there is/was a hold on selling them to the public.
This statement is totally not accurate. if you feel the need to comment on cars more modern than yours, please study up and pay attention.

the 2015 model year came with a new tdi engine, described in the self study document I linked to a couple posts back.

the "emission mess" was revealed in September of 2015, and was preceded by members noting delays in availability of the 2016 model year cars.

VW withdrew the request to certify emissions design which would allow the sale of the 2016 model year TDIs, and have not (as far as we know) tried to get a 2017 model certified.
 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
For anyone interested, the water pumps are $150 (including $50 core charge) from VW and include gasket and coolant valve solenoid already installed. These pumps also don't use a belt gear as the pulley runs on the backside of the timing belt which I found interesting.

Pump part 04L-121-011-EX
Pump bolts (3) N-910-488-04

 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
This statement is totally not accurate. if you feel the need to comment on cars more modern than yours, please study up and pay attention.

the 2015 model year came with a new tdi engine, described in the self study document I linked to a couple posts back.

the "emission mess" was revealed in September of 2015, and was preceded by members noting delays in availability of the 2016 model year cars.

VW withdrew the request to certify emissions design which would allow the sale of the EA288 TDIs, and have not (as far as we know) tried to get a 2016's or 2017 model certified yet.
the latest I heard is the EA288's come with a hold on them but are not really effected by Deiselgate because it is a completely different engine than the 2009 through 2015 engines.More complicated than the BRM or Cr's sure, but not more "Modern" in a good way than my BRM or the retched CR's.
 
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meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
the latest I heard is the EA288's come with a hold on them but are not really effected by Deiselgate because it is a completely different engine than the 2009 through 2015 engines.More complicated than the BRM or Cr's sure, but not more "Modern" in a good way than my BRM or the retched CR's.

Got it. your 2006 is as complicated as a car should be, and has emissions, power, economy and safety you are satisfied with. all of us who own later cars are fools.
Definition of modern

1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of the present or the immediate past : contemporary
the 2015 tdi cars with variations of the EA288 engine are referred to as "generation 3" or "GEN 3" in the court documents.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/871306/download

they have tentative fixes described in the document, and are subject to the VW offer to buy-back or "fix" (once/if the fix is approved) with substantial additional compensation for owners or lessees.

Happy New Year, and may your 2006 BRM last forever.
 
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Kalevi1Poeg

Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2015
Location
Snowy NH
TDI
2015 Golf SE Manual TDI Mk7 Silk Blue, 20th Anniversary GTI Jazz Blue
Another Water Pump Failure

This one at 63k miles - noticed that I had to fill up the reservoir couple of months ago and dealership says its leaking. Probably change the timing belt also.

I had thought of having the fix - now maybe just do the buyback.

Our 2003 Jetta has taken four waterpumps so far.

What the ... VW?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I have seen a few 2015 TDI water pumps leaking. They were all still under warranty. New design, cannot say I am shocked by that. Too bad we won't ever be able to see the latest generation of engines' improvements. It is like we are stuck with the 1999.5 ALH as the last hoorah. :(

But maybe the water pumps will improve anyway. I always check for TSBs, still nothing yet for them.
 

dubStrom

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Aug 6, 2007
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Kansas City Missouri
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2003 A4 Jetta (sold), 2010 JSW (sold), 2013 Passat 6MT traded for 2014 JSW with 6MT-TOTALED in November 2016, 2003 ALH 5MT conversion (sold), wheezing 2015 GSW/DSG and a new 2021 Tacoma Access Cab 4x4 p'up
the 2015 model year is the first for a new engine.

the main coolant pump, driven by the timing belt, is controlled by the ECU to turn on or off. fairly complicated for a water pump. also has a couple electric coolant pumps

benefit is faster warm up and more mpg,

drawback may be some early failures as they polish the design.

http://pics3.tdiclub.com/data/517/820433_EA288.pdf

has quite a bit of good reading on your engine,

coolant discussion starts on page 18
OK, so warming up yer TDI in Winter will be quicker. I suppose this is a good thing. I will keep an eye on it for leaks.

But the new twin counterbalance assembly? Now that to me is excessive. The info in that brochure claims to reduce stress on the bearings. Well thank god:rolleyes: Those main bearings only last a half million miles or so. I feel sooo much better knowing that I have two new unserviceable ("cannot be replaced in the field") heavy spinning parts to protect 'em.

Modern. ppthht! Some things should be left unfixed.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
They have a variable displacement oil pump, too. Some VAG gas engines have had that for a while now. Almost a decade, actually.
 

nomadic

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 2, 2018
Location
So Cal
TDI
'15 Golf TDI S dsg
What are the symptoms? I'm seeing a good amount of water under the car when running the A/C. More than normal I think. Coolant level looks good though.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Condensate from the A/C has nothing to do with a leaking water pump. High humidity causes that.
 

superduty_59

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Jul 14, 2015
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Mount Victory, OH
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2001 Beetle TDI GLS 5sp, 2005.5 Jetta TDI DSG, 2006Jetta TDI DSG, 2011 Jetta TDI DSG, 2012 JSW TDI DSG, 2015 Passat SE 6MT TDI
Just bought a 2015 Passat SE TDI 6sp Manual 44K. The coolant in the tank keeps disappearing. Haven't looked really hard for a leak yet. I will do an oil change this week and will hopefully know more but I would suspect a leaking water pump from all the reading I've done. This car is a 1 owner buyback. Would this be covered under the 5year/60k powertrain warranty?
 

Ted Hurst

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Joined
Jul 15, 2007
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44224
TDI
2015 GSW
My 2015 GSW developed a leak around 20k. Didn't use a drop for the first 18 months of ownership but now I've had to top it off a couple of times. When I did my 20K service I could see dripping from around the crank pulley side. I was wondering what all the liquid was that absorbed into the sound deadening material that they incorporated over the oil pan. I thought it was leaking oil but now it all makes sense. I've got an appointment scheduled at the Dealership I bought it from and will report back on their findings.
 

RIP TDI

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Feb 16, 2000
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Santa Barbara, CA
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'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
I was wondering what all the liquid was that absorbed into the sound deadening material that they incorporated over the oil pan. I thought it was leaking oil but now it all makes sense.
Its normal for that foam to absorb a significant amount of oil that migrates from the pan drain hole during an oil change (unless the sound-dampening shroud is removed beforehand, a drain valve is used, or the oil is extracted). Not saying it couldn't also be coolant...
 
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Ted Hurst

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2007
Location
44224
TDI
2015 GSW
Update: Dealership diagnosed a leaking water pump. When they went to install they noticed that the timing belt was starting to shred possibly due to pulley issue. Replaced timing belt and a faulty roller.

My 2015 GSW developed a leak around 20k. Didn't use a drop for the first 18 months of ownership but now I've had to top it off a couple of times. When I did my 20K service I could see dripping from around the crank pulley side. I was wondering what all the liquid was that absorbed into the sound deadening material that they incorporated over the oil pan. I thought it was leaking oil but now it all makes sense. I've got an appointment scheduled at the Dealership I bought it from and will report back on their findings.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
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Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
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'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
The pump runs off the timing belt as noted above, but it has a sleeve that extends and retracts electrically to vary the pump flow to help manage engine temperature (read: emissions). The electric sleeve has proven problematic. Aftermarket makers (Saleri and Geba) have eliminated the sleeve, although they still provide a connector so you can plug in the control wire (placebo). Rumor is that VW will discontinue the variable mechanism on replacement pumps as well. Mercedes has a similar pump in some diesels, with similar problems and the aftermarket also eliminating the variable feature.
 

GreenLantern_TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Location
Iowa
TDI
2015 GOLF SEL
The pump runs off the timing belt as noted above, but it has a sleeve that extends and retracts electrically to vary the pump flow to help manage engine temperature (read: emissions). The electric sleeve has proven problematic. Aftermarket makers (Saleri and Geba) have eliminated the sleeve, although they still provide a connector so you can plug in the control wire (placebo). Rumor is that VW will discontinue the variable mechanism on replacement pumps as well. Mercedes has a similar pump in some diesels, with similar problems and the aftermarket also eliminating the variable feature.
So on the geba pump you sell when we swap over the solenoid its just for placebo effect?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The ECU needs to see something connected, but that something no longer does anything.

The VR6 variable displacement water pumps use vacuum, but the vacuum is controlled via a solenoid in much the same fashion, although I have never seen one of those replacement pumps yet that does away with the vacuum servo inside the pump.
 
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