^^ Thanks. I was going to let the shop do it the first time, but the $1,300 estimate put me off. I think I paid $350 total for the new pump and coolant. Just couldn’t stomach giving away a grand.
Anyway, just read the codes, and sure enough I’ve got a P2181 - cooling system malfunction. Thought it would have triggered a CEL, but nope.
Oh well, guess that confirms it. 
Dang... it's certainly expensive (for BMW I paid $180 labor for WP+T-stat), but will have to suck it up I guess... What did you get for parts?
Is there a recommended interval to replace the WP on the GTI? I haven't checked it yet as I'm at 76K km so I should be OK for a while (unless something goes...).
MK6 is well known for leaking water pumps, but I was actually pretty lucky. Original pump lasted 8 years with no problems, and I only replaced it as preventative maintenance because it's such a PITA to get to and I already had access to it for other work I was doing at the time. The second pump lasted maybe 3-4 years before it developed a small leak. I'd just been topping it up as needed, but figured I'd do a proper repair to get the car ready for sale.
Original pump was OE plastic, and like I said worked just fine, so I replaced it with another OE plastic one. This time I figured I'd get the "upgrade" pump, a metal one from Rein (Graf also makes metal pumps for these.) Interwebs say metal is the way to go, and the price is about the same, so I figured why not.
Replacement is so expensive because half the engine needs to come apart to get to it (it's buried under the intake manifold.) Not sure if it's the same on the MK7, but I suspect so.
