Thermostat housing and water pump fail.

[TheBlondeFella]

You really think VW would redesign a part like 5 times just to have it continually fail on purpose? They lost in court over it and are now required to offer replacements outside of warranty. Just doesn't seem to be very likely it was on purpose.

Do you have any info on the court case?
Is this just for the US or worldwide?

 

[victorofhavoc]

Water pump and thermostat housing replaced under warranty 13k miles ago. Coolant level hasn't dropped much if any, but still get a coolant odor outside after driving.

Is this normal?

The pump overflow is literally just an open port on the side of the ovetflow container. It's very normal for it to vent vapor or even fluid if it was overfilled at any point. This is where the coolant smell on these cars comes from after hot drives.

 

[victorofhavoc]

Do you have any info on the court case?
Is this just for the US or worldwide?

The class action lawsuit was in the US. It wasn't so much a court case as it was a settlement from vw to extend warranty and cover some repair costs if you had premature failure.

If your coolant level ever drops over longer periods (dropping while cooling is normal) you have a leak. Some leaks are so minor you wouldn't notice in typical street driving except for a bit of coolant top off every 2-3 years. However if you track the car you will definitely notice since it won't be able to keep things cool due to the leak preventing adequate pump flow.

 

[Mk_GTI]

The pump overflow is literally just an open port on the side of the ovetflow container. It's very normal for it to vent vapor or even fluid if it was overfilled at any point. This is where the coolant smell on these cars comes from after hot drives.

The coolant level is right at the MAX line, so I'll remove some coolant to the mid-level and see if that helps alleviate some of the post-drive odor.