B7 TDI Alltrack- Water pump failure just out of warranty

[waldecker]

Hi,
Have a 2013 Passat Alltrack and have been very happy with it- until last week the low coolant light briefly came on. Found 1.5 l of coolant missing- so straight to the dealer.
Was told water pump had failed and needs replacing, together with timing belt.
NOT happy after 80k km and 3y4m of ownership, full service history and generally easy life.
Dealer needed a bit of prompting to file a claim with VW- what are my chances that VW is coming to the party? Common issue? Any risk of secondary damage?
Thanks for any advice

Cheers
waldecker

[Steve28]

Mine failed at 45k, luckily still 6 months to go on warranty and managed to have the timing belt included as well.

If you check the forums and Google, there aren't too many reports so I don't think it is that common, we just seem to have been the unlucky ones.


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[fung9420]

I think water pump is meant to be replaced around 90k km /4 yrs anyways? It's considered as routine wearing? [emoji848]


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[waldecker]

I think water pump is meant to be replaced around 90k km /4 yrs anyways? It's considered as routine wearing? [emoji848]


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Even more reason to insist it should NOT fail before that...
But I seem to remember that the water pump replacement was only recommended as precautionary at that time because once you replace the timing belt it makes sense...

[ozrcboy]

Even more reason to insist it should NOT fail before that...
But I seem to remember that the water pump replacement was only recommended as precautionary at that time because once you replace the timing belt it makes sense...

The good mechanics recommend you replace the water pump whenever you replace the timing belt. You do 9/10th of the work when doing the belt, and the pump itself is a reasonably cheap part.

The pump on my passat failed at 140K (when the dealership didn't replace it at the timing belt change as I was unaware of the issue and didn't ask). The pump on my mother in laws transporter failed at 90K. I don't think it is unusual for them to fail and, with my limited knowledge, they aren't expected to last the life of the vehicle. It is kind of funny that they aren't an automatic part of the timing belt service.

Good luck with your warranty claim - prima facia I can't see why they shouldn't cover it.

[limiteded]

Timing belt and water pump are suppose to be done at 105000km or 7 years for australia.
Erwin specifies no later than 120000km for the timing belt.
its a kit that is ordered from vw aust parts, so all VW service dealers should be doing it. They should bear any responsibility if the water pump is not replaced at timing belt change, and a subsequent failure occurs.
All genuine parts are covered by a warranty, along with service work.

the pumps are not brand new, but reconditioned, as to vws global recycle/ reuse program

[waldecker]

Just to update on the final outcome: VW offered to go halves on parts and labor (after I had to call them since my dealer had failed to submit warranty claim despite telling me they had..)- which I accepted.
To VW's credit they sorted it out within a few hours after I had told them my story.

[Eaglehawk]

Water pump failure on our MY13 AllTrack. 4 years old, 70000ish km. We had extra warranty for keeping the car serviced with the dealer. Covered water pump and labour, but not fluids and belt.

[AllBlack]

2013 alltrack 88,xxx kms had this exact issue last week. Extended warranty through Swann is covering it, and the timing belt.

I'm more concerned that this is on top of an issue I had 2 weeks ago which cost Swann 3k to replace the boot actuator, reversing camera, boot button, and water line to he rear windscreen (split). Finally, the steering wheel buttons were also replaced a month or so ago at almost $700.

I'm now a little scared about keeping the car when this warranty runs out. Anyone able to put my mind at ease? I love this car which has been bullet proof until recently.

[Ronka1]

Hi, I was going to suggest to get onto VW Australia as they are usually pretty good in regards to things like this that are just out of warranty, as was case with x's 08 Passat aircon pump died 6 months after warranty and they had had issues with earlier models and hers was well over on kms but to their credit they did replace the pump and associated parts and major aircon system flush, local dealer said that VW Aus would not cover it but after ringing them they did , as far as water pumps go I'm not that familiar with all track but as other posts have said whilst changing timing belt it is a good insurance policy to change water pump, I'm not sure if VW is still using the plastic impellers on that vehicle like they used in earlier Golfs and they tend to split impeller on shaft thus not pumping water and engine temp increase if they still using plastic you should see if u can get a metal impeller water pump usually after market and personally I would not put a plastic impeller pump if that is what they are using in my vehicle, and if they do run plastic impellers VW ought to no better one would think by now that plastic or nylon in that environment is not a great idea. And u say it lost 1.5 litres which is unusual unless engine got really hot and pumped it out of overflow tank,otherwise there would have to be a leak in the system.

[Umai Naa!!]

Metal-impellor'd ones tend to chew the water jacket out when the bearings fail.

[Eaglehawk]

Replaced after a week at the dealer. Not sure about where the delay was, maybe being a warranty job? ;)

[Carsten]

I recently experienced some coolant loss in my MY13 Passat - 2 litres in a month - 6 months out of warranty, with ~ 60k in the clock. It looked a little wet around the water pump. Went to John Hughes VW in WA (where I bought the car) explaining the problem and suggested it might be the water pump.

Although out of the warranty period, I asked if we could appeal to VW Australia as this was fairly early for the water pump to let go. It was explained there was a process but would take a couple of weeks. I said to do the work that needed to be done (replace the pump and timing belt) and I would appeal afterward.

At the end of the day I went to the dealer expecting a $1350 bill, and was told VW had come to the party to the tune of 60% - so only $350 for a new water pump and timing belt! A shout out to VW Australia!

[Transporter]

Great result. It pays to be polite even when you know you’re right. :)