Water pump leak

[StormyTommy 0]

I'm getting a coolant leak from around the area of the water pump, noise levels seem to have gone up, also I thought the water pump pulley had a slight wobble. This is a VR6 with the original water pump.

I've read various posts on here and looked at what's involved in replacing it and I'm going to get a garage to do it.

 

VW main dealer is quoting £320 inc VAT. Is that excessive and can anyone recommend a decent garage in South Essex/North London?

 

I've got a new serpentine belt ready to be fitted and the bearing in tensioner pulley has already been done, is there anything else that should be replaced at the same time?

[KADVR6 0]

its a very easy DIY job mate just need some tools and a trolley jack, will take you no more than an hour to do and only buy a genuine water pump

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

its a very easy DIY job mate just need some tools and a trolley jack, will take you no more than an hour to do and only buy a genuine water pump

 

in theory your right its easy but most of the time it never is because of siezed bolts, all its gona take is for one of them bolts to shear/round off and that simple 30 minute job turns into a headach,

[KADVR6 0]

in theory your right its easy but most of the time it never is because of siezed bolts, all its gona take is for one of them bolts to shear/round off and that simple 30 minute job turns into a headach,

 

well you can say that about any job your gonna do on any old car, just soak all the bolts with plusgas for a few days before attempting the job, done about 5 water pumps on vr's and never had a problem.

[Timbo 0]

Remove airbox.

Disconnect cat.

Loosen gearbox mount.

Remove nuts from front and rear mounts.

Use a long bolt (I forget the exact size but I think it's about M10 fine or thereabouts) to relax the belt tensioner.

Jack the engine up on the sump until the water pump is accessible.

Replace the pump.

Reassemble in reverse order.

 

The most difficult part is disconnecting the cat from the engine, if it hasn't been done recently. The rest is pretty straight forward, assuming you have a good selection of tools (socket set extensions/UJs).

[KADVR6 0]

there is no need to disconnect the cat, its tight but you dont have to

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

well its good to know that you havnet had problems, doing the water pump is one of the things i want to do for peice of mind, im just paranoid as most bolts on my car are normaly sezied to the point of snapping or rounding off and after doing my wishbones i had one of them bolts shear off on me and that created an absolute ball ache, took 8hours to sort out, 6 of which were spent on my back with a drill :( but yea allways give bolts a good soaking with penetrateing fluid..

[StormyTommy 0]

its a very easy DIY job mate just need some tools and a trolley jack, will take you no more than an hour to do and only buy a genuine water pump

 

I already have a VW pump I bought ages ago, but put off fitting it up to now! After reading the comments, (thanks for the brief steps by Timbo) I'm tempted to give it a go at the weekend.

You say I don’t need to remove the cat, where do I check that its not binding when lifting the engine, i.e. what parts touch first?

[Toohottotrot 10]

I did mine not too long ago, was dead easy. Didn't touch the cat and had no probs at all. I could easy do one in an hour now. One plus point is the engine ran around 10 degrees cooler with the new pump.

[eglin89 0]

where abouts in south essex are you? i'm having the same problem to the point i need to top the car up if i want to drive it as it only leaks when getting up to temperature so i've put off driving it for a while