LCR Secondary Water Pump quick fix guide

[Balf2k]

I noticed my secondary water pump was spinning slower that usual today so I WD40'd the electrical connector up, wiggled it about the revs of the pump went up when the connector was held one way, then it would slow down when pushed very slightly the other way. I got the multimeter out and had a very good 12v feed at the connector. I then decided to 'open up' the motor housing for the pump to investigate further:

I used a small screw driver to bend out the 6 lugs that hold the base on. See pic below:

When I got the base off I saw all the dusty crust around the motor / brushes and inside the casing. See below:

I got the multimeter on the terminals on the inner side of the base to check voltage was getting into the motor, all was ok. So it was all the dust and dirt clogging up the motor. I sprayed a load of electrical contact cleaner in there, spun the motor with my fingers to work it around a bit then turned the pump upside down for the dirty residue to drain out. After cleaning the whole unit up inside I gave it a spraying of WD40. Now onto getting the base unit back on: I used a bit of cotton thread (marked in red) and wrapped it around the wires connected to the two brushes to pull them apart enough to get them onto the motors shaft:

Once you've got the base back on pull the thread out of the motor assembly and rebend the metal lugs of the casing back onto the plastic base. Once this was done my pump worked fine and the speed was fast and very consistent, just how it should be. This whole process took me less than 30 minutes. It really is a simple fix.

 

[RobM]

Good stuff, cheers for the write up and pics

Things like this should go into a MK1 Leon FAQ forum section

 

[oldman]

also on the guides page - i liked and don't even have an R

[edot]
small thing, can a mod or the thread starter correct spelling for secondary. would make searches more likely to find it.
[/edit]

 

[Balf2k]

Just corrected my spelling mistake, thanks for pointing it out Oldman

 

[loveturbopower]

nice guide il get on with that next week then, could save myself a few quid, new ones are dear aint they? mate of mine reckons he was quoted over £200, even a non genuine one was £99 cheapest i could find

 

[BBoy82]

Nice work!
Cheers for posting this guide. Mines packed up working full stop, so i need to get out there and have a look.
Dan

 

[leon_richard]

which models / engines have one of these?

 

[richybigman]

Any help on this problem:
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=276078

 

[gulzar]

I noticed my secondary water pump was spinning slower that usual today so I WD40'd the electrical connector up, wiggled it about the revs of the pump went up when the connector was held one way, then it would slow down when pushed very slightly the other way. I got the multimeter out and had a very good 12v feed at the connector. I then decided to 'open up' the motor housing for the pump to investigate further:

I used a small screw driver to bend out the 6 lugs that hold the base on. See pic below:

When I got the base off I saw all the dusty crust around the motor / brushes and inside the casing. See below:

I got the multimeter on the terminals on the inner side of the base to check voltage was getting into the motor, all was ok. So it was all the dust and dirt clogging up the motor. I sprayed a load of electrical contact cleaner in there, spun the motor with my fingers to work it around a bit then turned the pump upside down for the dirty residue to drain out. After cleaning the whole unit up inside I gave it a spraying of WD40. Now onto getting the base unit back on: I used a bit of cotton thread (marked in red) and wrapped it around the wires connected to the two brushes to pull them apart enough to get them onto the motors shaft:

Once you've got the base back on pull the thread out of the motor assembly and rebend the metal lugs of the casing back onto the plastic base. Once this was done my pump worked fine and the speed was fast and very consistent, just how it should be. This whole process took me less than 30 minutes. It really is a simple fix.

hi, just wanted to say thanks for doing this write up as my secondary pump stopped working. i took it apart as you showed, free'd it up and put back together. now working again thankfully. i would have had to fork out on the car but this simple guide helped me save that money.

many thanks.

gulzar.

 

[Balf2k]

I'm pleased to know it was worth my time writing this guide, such a simple fix for a part that is way overpriced IMHO.

 

[PSX]

Just to add two cents: I did a lot of digging on this last Friday (mine had stopped altogether) - opened up the pump and found the brushes were very very short (worn down), as well as the motor innards being dirty... Flushed it all out, attempted to reassemble.. and one of the carbon brushes broke in two where the copper wire goes into the centre of it!

My motor had done nearly 95,000 miles on the car, so I figured it was simply a pair of £5 motor brushes that it needs (though this would need a bit of soldering to replace on this particular motor) - rang round a handful of places that refurbish motors, but nobody could source brushes for 'a motor that small'. My last try, a company that refurbish 'any' make or model of power tool, eventually replied to my e-mail and I am sending one of the worn brushes to see if they can fabricate cheap replacements (Solent Tools)

So... SERE Motors can do you one of these (SEAT #251 965 561B / Bosch #0 392 020 024) for £80.. Doing the swap was relatively straightforward, though I found out VW seem to have changed their connector design slightly...:

1. Unplug the old pump (NOTE: compare the plastic guide notch in the connector to the socket on the new pump!)
1b. If the new pump has two long plastic guide notches on its plug rather than one, you may need to shave these off with a sharp knife before the car's connector will fit.
1c. Shave off plastic notches from new pump's connector until smooth - the connection will be stiff (NOTE: leave the small wedge shape notches alone, these are retention lugs).

2. Freed the old pump from the radiator plastic (2x Torx bolts)
3. Unscrewed the motor from the impeller part (4x posidrive screws)
4. Twist flat bladed screwdriver in the motor bracket at the screwholes to help separate it from the old motor body.
5. Refit new pump motor onto the impeller part.
6. Refit pump to radiator using bracket (the screws will squeeze the bracket back into shape where it was slightly bent apart in step 4).
7. Refit connector to pump. Use WD40 if necessary (the fitment is very stiff).

New pump is quieter and makes a buzzing noise that can be heard when lowering one's ear close to the front grill

Cheers for the guide though, helped a great deal with finding the fault! If anyone knows someone who can refurb these little motors, it'd save others a lot of money... For one, only the motor section is knackered (and unscrews from the other half of the pump) - the impeller should be fine to do another 100k miles at least...


Alex