98 Jetta water pump...cpo warranty

Hi all,

I'm just throwing out this scenario for general interest, I think i've got it close to figured out.

I've got about 3 months of warranty left on the 98 Jetta. My mechanic, VW Factory certified, says he will take off a couple of belts and do a proper check of my water pump so I can actually know, before I go back to the dealer, if they will replace it on warranty, or if they are likely to charge me the $90 diagnostic fee and say it's not ready to be replaced yet.

It's pretty loud, my mechanic recommends replacing it. For $36 he'll tell me where I probably stand with the dealer and warranty. I don't have a good feeling about going to the dealer with a problem that doesn't require towing yet, and which could possibly last as long as the warranty. They'll probably charge me the diagnostic and tell me it's good to go.

My intuition says either just have my mechanic fix it or drive it till the warranty ends and see what happens... Towing is covered under the warranty so... but My wife doesn't favor "seeing what happens".

I'll probably just tell my mechanic to go ahead and replace it along with the thermostat and belts and save the headache of dealing with the dealer.

P.

So I'll wrap up this little story. I found a leak, pretty small... I hadn't added coolant yet and the level was still visible, although far below minimum, in the expansion tank.

I read in my A2 Bently reference that a occasional drop leakage is ok, so i was still nervous about wheather it was ready to be fixed under warranty. Service Dept. said a leak is a leak, apparently they saw the same thing, plus the loud noise.

Score one for the dealer, and of course my conscientious(sp) independant mechanic who steered me in the direction of warranty service and offered to help with the process with the dealer if necessary.

P.