water pump?!?!

[Scoldy]

well put water in the toledo 2 wks ago the red temp light came on she was not far off empty! and today 2 wks later its happened again no sign of any leaks unless its a wee minor one but would this be mainly needing a new water pump? the car is a 110 bhp tdi toledo btw!

 

[beezanick]

Have you checked the engine oil to see if it looks like mayonaise? It sounds like it could be a head gasket to me...(lets hope not though)

 

[matt110tdi]

check to see if there are any exhaust gases in the header tank (a garage will have the proper tester for this). gases will bubble up and sit in the tank - you may also notice that there is quite a lot of pressure buildup in the header tank when the coolant is cold. These along with the mayonnaise in the oil are typical symptoms of head gasket failure.

Have you ran your engine so it's hot and checked all the hoses for leaks? if it's hot it will be steam so you won't get puddles if it's a minor leak.

The original factory fit water pumps have plastic impellers and aren't very good long term as the plastic falls apart. It's common practice to replace it with a metal impeller pump when the cambelt is changed. I can't see how you'd lose water though from a faulty pump unless it's coming out of the housing and dripping down the block and onto the road.

If you have the plastic belly pan under your car, take it off because that will hold any leaking water which would end up on the road.

 

[cypher007]

also

read an article in car mechanic where they bought a Skoda to do up. that had mayonaise in the oil and the coolant. it turned out to be the oil cooler block that sits below the oil filter. it could be that, lets hope its that rather than the head gasket.

 

[beezanick]

I read that one, was on an old 90bhp non PD if I remember correctley.

it does sound more like the head gasket or oil cooler rather than the water pump though. I can see no way that a faulty pump would produce a loss of coolent.

 

[cypher007]

probably

i wonder if you couldnt try some radweld, i had a car with a slow leak somewhere and it worked a treat. though im not sure if its compatible with todays cars. also i cant remeber which one is better, bars or radweld.