Pink crust, a coolant smell and a low coolant light on a newer VW or Audi 2.0T usually means the plastic water pump assembly. What it involves and real prices.
The Gen 3 EA888 (the 1.8T and 2.0T in 2015 and newer Golf, GTI, Jetta GLI, Tiguan, Atlas, Audi A3, A4 and Q5, among others) put the water pump and thermostat into one big plastic module. It works fine until it doesn't, and when it doesn't it leaks.
How you'll notice
- A low coolant warning, usually after you've topped it off once or twice already
- Sweet coolant smell after a drive
- Pink or purple crust on the engine, around the back and under the intake side
- Drips under the car, sometimes landing near the transmission
It's not usually a sudden failure. It's a slow seep that gets worse, and plenty of owners don't notice until the light comes on.
What's in the job
Because the pump and thermostat are one unit, it's one assembly swap plus a drive belt for the pump, coolant and a proper bleed. Access isn't great on these engines, so most of the bill is labor. Some revisions of the housing have been updated over the years, so ask what version they're installing.
When it happens
No set interval. A lot of them start leaking somewhere around 50k to 90k miles, some earlier. One of our reports says the owner claimed the cost back under a settlement, so check whether any extended coverage applies to your car before paying for it yourself.
What we have for prices
Three reports so far. That's thin, so take the median as a rough guide and look at the individual reports on the cost page to see what was included.
Worth asking
- Is it a genuine VW unit or aftermarket? Aftermarket versions vary a lot.
- Is the pump drive belt included?
- Will they use the correct VW coolant spec, or something "universal"?