The Gen 3 EA888 uses a plastic water pump and thermostat housing that cracks and weeps coolant — a when, not an if. We replace the whole assembly at your home and have you back on the road the same day.
On the Gen 3 EA888 (engine codes like CGWB, CJXB, CNCB and DAZA), the water pump and thermostat are built as one integrated plastic module bolted to the side of the block. Plastic and constant heat cycling don't mix: the housing develops hairline cracks, the internal seals harden, and coolant starts weeping — slowly at first, often just a drip you'd never see, then a visible puddle at the front of the block.
Because the leak starts small, most owners notice the coolant reservoir dropping before they ever see a drip. The cooling system runs under pressure when hot, so the weep gets worse with every drive — especially the heat-soak after a summer stop-and-go run on the 401. Left alone, the trickle becomes a steady leak, the level drops faster than you're topping up, and the temperature gauge starts climbing.
There's no repairing a cracked plastic housing — the fix is the complete updated pump-and-thermostat module, new seals, and a proper coolant fill and bleed. It's a known, well-documented failure on this engine generation, and once the new unit is in, the cooling system is sorted for the long haul.
If your Audi / VW is doing any of these, this is the likely cause:
A weeping pump never stabilizes — pressure and heat keep opening the crack. The danger isn't the leak itself, it's the overheat it leads to: aluminum heads don't forgive being run hot, and one bad overheat can mean a warped head or blown head gasket, turning a four-figure cooling repair into a five-figure engine job. If the level is dropping, fix it before summer traffic does the deciding for you.
Yes, easily — it's one of the most driveway-friendly jobs on this engine. We bring the parts, the correct coolant, and a vacuum-fill tool for a bubble-free refill. Half a day to a day and you're done, without driving a leaking car anywhere.
The part is an integrated pump-thermostat module rather than a simple pump, access is tight, and the dealer bills book hours at dealer rates — that's the $1,800–2,200 quotes. We give you one flat price for the complete job, parts and coolant included, before any work starts.
For a short while, but you're gambling. The crack only grows, and a sudden loss of coolant on a hot day overheats the engine within minutes. Topping up also masks how fast it's leaking. Treat top-ups as a way to limp to the repair date, not a strategy.
We pressure-test the whole cooling system while we're in there and inspect the surrounding hoses and connections. If anything else is marginal, you'll know before we button it up — it's far cheaper to do it with the system already open than as a second visit later.
Send it over for a free second opinion. I'll tell you straight what the job actually involves — and if their quote is fair, I'll tell you that too.
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