Discussion
My old man is in France and has asked me to post this as he's in need of a bit of advice.
His S3 has developed a water leak from the front of the engine block so suspected water pump problem. He's down in the Dordogne region. His question is around whether anyone has experienced a similar problem and whether to repair now or carry on and keep topping up the reservoir in order to get back to the UK.
Thanks in advance for any advice/replies. I will be relaying them.
I forgot to say that it is an S3 with a 2.9l V6 from 1992.
His S3 has developed a water leak from the front of the engine block so suspected water pump problem. He's down in the Dordogne region. His question is around whether anyone has experienced a similar problem and whether to repair now or carry on and keep topping up the reservoir in order to get back to the UK.
Thanks in advance for any advice/replies. I will be relaying them.
I forgot to say that it is an S3 with a 2.9l V6 from 1992.
Edited by Hoverjobs on Sunday 24th May 07:42
The usual sequence is that the bearing wears and then the seal starts to wear and fails very quickly. Once it's gone far enough to start leaking, it's likely to fail catastrophically pretty quickly.
I would confirm that it's the water pump before jumping to any conclusions. You can find the pump by following the fan belt. At the bottom of the water pump housing is a drain hole that the water comes through when the seal fails, which is conclusive proof that it needs a new pump. But there's still a chance that it's a leaking hose or other simple fault that could be fixed in a couple of minutes.
If he does decide to push on with it, tell him to leave the pressure cap off to stop the system pressurising, this will drastically slow the loss.
I would confirm that it's the water pump before jumping to any conclusions. You can find the pump by following the fan belt. At the bottom of the water pump housing is a drain hole that the water comes through when the seal fails, which is conclusive proof that it needs a new pump. But there's still a chance that it's a leaking hose or other simple fault that could be fixed in a couple of minutes.
If he does decide to push on with it, tell him to leave the pressure cap off to stop the system pressurising, this will drastically slow the loss.
Water pump went from working to not on the way back from Zolder last year. Once it packs up it overheated every 20 miles or so, without any warning or gradual temperature increase. I'd have got it low loaded all the way if I had known. As it was we limped to the ferry port but I wouldn't like to repeat that journey. Overheates also wiped out the thermostat and relay.
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