'15 GTI Waterpump/Thermostat Question

[SAABTurboGuy]

Hi Folks,

I have about 61k on my '15 GTI.

Back in November, I had my car serviced at the dealer (I know...but my Indy passed away and it was just an oil change)...and they said my water pump/t stat housing was leaking and wrote me up a $1000 estimate.

6 months and 2200 miles later and the coolant level looks fine.

I'm planning a trip from metro NY to Vermont in about a month...maybe 4+ hrs each way.

Do these things go gradually or do they just pop one day? I can bring water and coolant just in case, but don't want a catastrophic failure of course. The dealer could be full of crap...but not uncommon for these to go back around 60k it seems.

Thanks!!

 

[Diggs24]

They slowly leak. Drive it until it’s obvious.

 

[johng.wissig]

I'm at 78k. Also a 15'. Its been weeping for about a year. I've added coolant twice. Each time was 1/2 " below full line. Don't sweat it.

 

[SAABTurboGuy]

Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure I could be confident on my trip...sounds like I'll be fine!

 

[goinkin]

15 Autobahn here. When it goes, it goes. But it doesn't explode or anything. You just come out to a bunch of fluid on the floor.

I just brought a small bottle of coolant with me in the trunk everywhere. Doesn't take much to top it up. But when I was topping it up once a week, it was time to fix it.

So I had my tstat and water pump replaced about 18 months ago though. What a pain. FYI, there is a revised part number so if you DO get it replaced, make sure you upgrade to it.

 

[the]

6 months and 2200 miles later and the coolant level looks fine.

My coolant levels looked fine for a long time too, didn't stop the pump from leaking and failing. If you need to see that it's leaking, drive it around for 15 minutes and then pull the tray from under the engine, mine was coming out saturated. Eventually I started getting a CEL off and on, and after a few more weeks an EPC / do not drive. My car wouldn't make it to temp, and was idling like crap.

You may be able to get away with driving the car a little longer before you have it fixed, but personally I would not do a road trip... town driving only.

 

[jimlloyd40]

You'll be fine. A thermostat housing leak is very slow and even passes a pressure test.