Coolant low warning on your instrument cluster? Needing to top up your vehicle’s coolant weekly or fortnightly? Pink crystalized stains on your garage floor?
If you drive a vehicle from the Volkswagen group with a 1.8 TFSI or a 2.0 TFSI petrol engine and manufactured between 2008 to 2022 you could have the common coolant pump module failure. If you have any of these symptoms it is recommended to have your vehicle inspected by a professional without delay to mitigate the risk of more expensive engine failures or breakdowns.
More about these engines
These engines are known as the EA888, and they come in in 3 different generations. To identify these engines, all of them are petrol turbocharged, chain driven, they have variable valve timing on either the exhaust camshaft or both camshafts and they have plastic coolant modules that houses the coolant pump and thermostat in one module. (You can call us and we can identify your particular engine for you or if your are a bit more technical you can do a quick search and find some information on Google.)
Finding the leak
To identify if it is the coolant pump it is recommended to take the vehicle to a trained professional. He will, if needed, perform a coolant pressure test. This is a tool that will pressurize the cooling system and force coolant out from any area where there is a leak. If this leak is in the area under the intake manifold it is almost a certainty that it comes from this plastic module. These leaks can also be identified by pink coolant crystals on the left (longitudinal fitment) or on the front (transverse fitment) of the engine and oil pan. (See figures 1 & 2)
The module can leak from either the coolant pump, the thermostat or the body of the module.
Use the latest parts for this repair
These coolant modules have been updated several times with improvements and using different manufacturers. If your coolant pump is indeed leaking, ensure that your mechanic use the latest version of this part from either an authorised dealer or an aftermarket supplier that supplies original equipment parts.(Figure 4.) The part numbers do vary from the different engine generations, your mechanic will use your VIN number to source the correct part for your vehicle.
The parts that will be replaced is a new coolant pump module, a coolant union and a new drivebelt. (See figures 5 & 6)
In the workshop
Your mechanic will drain the old coolant from your engine into a container for recycling.
He will then continue to disconnect connectors and move electrical harnesses out of the way. Remove the throttle body and disconnect any coolant hoses from the coolant module. He will now unscrew the coolant module and remove it with the coolant union.
Next up is to replace the little drivebelt and then fit the new coolant module with a new union. Figures 6 & 7)
Now all the removed and disconnected parts are refitted in reverse order.
After the replacement, your mechanic will vent the cooling system of any air. Evaluate the system to see if there are any leaks and then fill the cooling system with a mixture of coolant and water. Let the engine run until it reaches operating temperature and check the coolant level again afterwards.
Concluding thoughts
It is important to always have the correct coolant/water ratio in in your engine and if you have any leaks to have it looked at as soon as possible.
I hope that this short article will give you more information if you have this type of failure on your vehicle and how important the correct repair and parts are to prevent any rework.
If you have any further questions or need any advice, please do not hesitate to contact us on 09 394 4533 or at www.vorsprungautomobil.co.nz.
