GOLF R: Water Pump MADNESS!!!!

[ThatVdub]

You call it a joke, I call it quality. VWoA requests parts back to see what has failed and makes revisions to ensure it doesn't happen again.

You missed the whole point.
VWoA is not the issue, for the most part, it's the stealerships who design counter-measures to get over on the system.

[BruRunR]

Open the drivers side door - at the top right of the black label (either on the body or door, can't remember) you should see a date like 06/2012, 03/2012 etc...

Thanks. I'm a 5/12 build with no problems at 2600 miles and no issues...yet. I've got an APR Stage 1+ tune with VWR intake. I'll definitely let you know if something goes wrong

[watsonj0]

Thanks. I'm a 5/12 build with no problems at 2600 miles and no issues...yet. I've got an APR Stage 1+ tune with VWR intake. I'll definitely let you know if something goes wrong

4/12 and 4500 miles I hope I dodged the defect

[gima]

4/12 and 4500 miles I hope I dodged the defect

I'm w/you, I only have 1000 miles though. Hopefully they didn't use any leftovers from March

[arcticgenes]

you guys can add me to the list.

Was driving my car last Friday night. Took a right turn and suddenly the car lost throttle response. Car came to a stop and died. Engine wouldn't turn over. Had it towed to dealership and they determined the water pump pulley had started to work its way away from the engine. The pulley ground into the belt and caused the timing belt to go.

~6k miles on the odometer
didn't think to check build date before finding this thread but car was shipped first week of April so it is likely a march build

mods: apr stg 1, evoms intake

Dealership has had the car since Friday night and I am still awaiting the final decision from VWoA on warranty coverage. Hopefully they will decide tomorrow and the dealership can start fixing the R as well as give me a loaner so I'm not bumming rides from friends.

[HardKnox]

"Don't believe everything on the internet" ??!!

I would have snapped had someone tried smokescreening me with such an ignorant platitude. No shiite, Sherlock.

OTOH, when forums full of enthusiasts are consistently reporting on a subject, once can only conclude that it's either A) a vast conspiracy with unknown aims and origins or B) worth looking into.

[Rdurty2]

I think a shed a tear when I went out to my R and saw the build date was March.

[B0000rt]

you guys can add me to the list.

Was driving my car last Friday night. Took a right turn and suddenly the car lost throttle response. Car came to a stop and died. Engine wouldn't turn over. Had it towed to dealership and they determined the water pump pulley had started to work its way away from the engine. The pulley ground into the belt and caused the timing belt to go.

~6k miles on the odometer
didn't think to check build date before finding this thread but car was shipped first week of April so it is likely a march build

mods: apr stg 1, evoms intake

Dealership has had the car since Friday night and I am still awaiting the final decision from VWoA on warranty coverage. Hopefully they will decide tomorrow and the dealership can start fixing the R as well as give me a loaner so I'm not bumming rides from friends.

Thanks

R32TRELLA -> Feb Build - 4000 miles
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...1#post78047481

nate4486 -> March Build - 2415 miles
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...1#post78893676

usurbrain -> ?? Build - 6500 miles
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...1#post78505842

FDP -> March Build - 2400 miles
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ll=1#post78963

arcticgenes -> March Build?? - 6000 miles
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...1#post79110919

[Rebellionelite]

How many .:R's now? 7 and counting?

[deathisgain]

I think a shed a tear when I went out to my R and saw the build date was March.

My build date is March as well, I'm at 8700 miles and no issue so far. I'm hoping it stays that way. I have had a few rattles in the cabin that I've had to track down, but other than that the car has been fantastic! I think I will check the water pump just for my own sanity, soon though. Having the clutch go bad is one thing, because that is easily replaced, yes it costs money if they won't cover it under warranty (I'm at stage 2+) but at least it doesn't require a complete engine swap. I'm not worried about clutch issues, it will give me an excuse to upgrade the clutch, but I am worried about the water pump failures.

[Hitman]

Is there any way we can visually check this issue ourselves? Would there be any obvious sign something's wrong before it goes?

[Rdurty2]

My build date is March as well, I'm at 8700 miles and no issue so far. I'm hoping it stays that way. I have had a few rattles in the cabin that I've had to track down, but other than that the car has been fantastic! I think I will check the water pump just for my own sanity, soon though. Having the clutch go bad is one thing, because that is easily replaced, yes it costs money if they won't cover it under warranty (I'm at stage 2+) but at least it doesn't require a complete engine swap. I'm not worried about clutch issues, it will give me an excuse to upgrade the clutch, but I am worried about the water pump failures.

6700 miles and no problems here (knock on wood). Checking the water pump, not sure what you would even be looking for, is a big big task.

[deathisgain]

6700 miles and no problems here (knock on wood). Checking the water pump, not sure what you would even be looking for, is a big big task.

Agreed it's a big task, and I don't know how to physically check it, I have a buddy with a lot more experience with VW than me (he's a mechanic) so I plan on asking him if it's worth just changing out the water pump altogether for piece of mind. To me a day or weekend in the garage is far better than weeks without my car and a total engine swap.

[webcrawlr]

Agreed it's a big task, and I don't know how to physically check it, I have a buddy with a lot more experience with VW than me (he's a mechanic) so I plan on asking him if it's worth just changing out the water pump altogether for piece of mind. To me a day or weekend in the garage is far better than weeks without my car and a total engine swap.

I'd agree with that. I'd be curious if the folks with failed pumps are getting engines with a superseded water pump.

[Rebellionelite]

Agreed it's a big task, and I don't know how to physically check it, I have a buddy with a lot more experience with VW than me (he's a mechanic) so I plan on asking him if it's worth just changing out the water pump altogether for piece of mind. To me a day or weekend in the garage is far better than weeks without my car and a total engine swap.

I think it might be the belt. Not the pump itself that snaps. Maybe just changing out the belt will do?

[deathisgain]

I think it might be the belt. Not the pump itself that snaps. Maybe just changing out the belt will do?

Yes water pump pulley is the culprit, is this correct everyone?

[JRMGTI]

Yes water pump pulley is the culprit, is this correct everyone?

Yep comes loose and cuts the timing belt and then game over.

[FDP]

Most definitively the water pump. It happened to me at 2400 miles. The pulley head of the water pumps are defective. They are coming loose and then shredding the belt. Depending on the damage, it is not necessarily a full engine replacement. My engine did not need replacement. Now that it is fixed, it runs great. It actually ran great before the pump fell apart, but it runs the same now as it did before. I'm not sure how you would be able to check the pulley head on the pump, but I'm not a mechanic, so hopefully someone with knowledge can chime in...
I had no mods at the time.

[deathisgain]

Most definitively the water pump. It happened to me at 2400 miles. The pulley head of the water pumps are defective. They are coming loose and then shredding the belt. Depending on the damage, it is not necessarily a full engine replacement. My engine did not need replacement. Now that it is fixed, it runs great. It actually ran great before the pump fell apart, but it runs the same now as it did before. I'm not sure how you would be able to check the pulley head on the pump, but I'm not a mechanic, so hopefully someone with knowledge can chime in...
I had no mods at the time.

Do you know if they just put the exact same pump in your car or did VW come out with a more reliable water pump? I don't really care about how to check it or test it, I'll just replace it. A water pump is like a $70 dollar part.

[Rdurty2]

All we need is a part number from someone's failed pump.

Then we just see if it's the current pump being offered or an older one.

[<Platypus=]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ght=water+pump

Post#32 has a DIY visual check...

[FDP]

Do you know if they just put the exact same pump in your car or did VW come out with a more reliable water pump? I don't really care about how to check it or test it, I'll just replace it. A water pump is like a $70 dollar part.

That was the same question I asked the dealer. They told me VW uses this pump on many different cars. The dealer assumes it was a bad batch of pumps. Based on these answers it's the same pump. VW pretended they had never heard of this problem before, which we all know is not true since others had this exact same problem before me...and had their cars fixed under warranty. I would guess VW keeps on eye on major warranty work!

[deathisgain]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ght=water+pump

Post#32 has a DIY visual check...

Thanks for posting, I've seen that but I'm assuming just doing a visual check on the timing belt isn't going to help much. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think this is just a gradual process, I think this might be bang bang thing, (pulley lets go, timing belt toast, you are out 10k unless warranty covers it!).

Edit: I have no idea why my text is bold, just ignore it.

[FDP]

That's the way I was lead to believe from the dealer. The head pops off, shreds the belt and good bye jack! But it certainly should be covered.

[Rebellionelite]

If I were VW, I would bloody get all of our pumps replaced on our .:R's, if its a $70 part, its better to just do a bloody mass recall then risk these $7,000 engines which VW seems to not only be replacing, but air shipping them in a few days from Germany and then covering the labour for install. Good lord...

[pmerm]

How many .:R's now? 7 and counting?

Don't forget, those are the ones we KNOW about. How many Rs have failed with owners not part of this forum.

If we guess only 10% of Golf R owners are here, are there then 10 times the number of failed automobiles? I find that hard to fathom because if that was the case, you'd think VW would be more active regarding the situation. But scary, nonetheless.

[FDP]

If I were VW, I would bloody get all of our pumps replaced on our .:R's, if its a $70 part, its better to just do a bloody mass recall then risk these $7,000 engines which VW seems to not only be replacing, but air shipping them in a few days from Germany and then covering the labour for install. Good lord...

Where did you see that they were replacing the entire engine? They only replaced the water pump, cylinder head and associated parts on mine.
I hope they did not screw me down the road with more problems!!!!

[arcticgenes]

Where did you see that they were replacing the entire engine? They only replaced the water pump, cylinder head and associated parts on mine.
I hope they did not screw me down the road with more problems!!!!

Got my call from the dealership today and was quoted the same thing. New head, new waterpump, and new timing (obviously).

[FDP]

Got my call from the dealership today and was quoted the same thing. New head, new waterpump, and new timing (obviously).

Did you ever check your build date?

[B0000rt]

Where did you see that they were replacing the entire engine? They only replaced the water pump, cylinder head and associated parts on mine.
I hope they did not screw me down the road with more problems!!!!

Wouldn't there be piston damage too? Not saying that a connecting rod isn't as strong as a pair of valves, but still, no?

[speedbump2]

Wouldn't there be piston damage too? Not saying that a connecting rod isn't as strong as a pair of valves, but still, no?

Not necessarily.
Valves get dinged-up fairly easily without causing too much piston damage, unless the valve head breaks off from the stem and rattles around in the combustion chamber.

--Chuck--

[BruRunR]

Is there any way we can visually check this issue ourselves? Would there be any obvious sign something's wrong before it goes?

Is there a way to double check the pump and see if there are signs of the pully beginning to let go? Did anyone that had this problem hear any bearing noises or other indication that the engine didn't sound right?

[QUOTE=deathisgain;79119205]Thanks for posting, I've seen that but I'm assuming just doing a visual check on the timing belt isn't going to help much. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think this is just a gradual process, I think this might be bang bang thing, (pulley lets go, timing belt toast, you are out 10k unless warranty covers it!).

I looked at this DIY too and it is just a check to make sure the timing belt is not fraying.

[brilliantgti]

Anyone make an aftermarket water pump for these cars? A 70 buck part seems like a easy fix if you ask me...i rather replace it now than deal with a catastrophic failure.

Nevermind i found what i need. Booyah! http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-...gine/ES251179/

[deathisgain]

Anyone make an aftermarket water pump for these cars? A 70 buck part seems like a easy fix if you ask me...i rather replace it now than deal with a catastrophic failure.

Nevermind i found what i need. Booyah! http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-...gine/ES251179/

I'm pretty sure that's the same pump that's in our cars right now. I don't think putting in the same pump will solve the problem. I was really hoping VWOA would do a recall, but it looks like it's wait and see. I'm going to contact VWOA and at the very least go on record saying I'm concerned.

[arcticgenes]

Did you ever check your build date?

not yet, i'll check it when I get the car back