Hi there RM, Well finally I am getting somewhere have been trying to find someone that has installed a ewp 80 on a mini, thank you so much for your photos and great read on how to do this, as I'm no mechanic and far from it but when my little silver bullets pto **** itself and it was going to cost me a arm n leg. I thought that maybe I could fix it my self....... scary but exciting, then someone said maybe you could put a electric water pump in, in so i looked into it and brought a ewp 80 the same kit as your photo ...yay anyway I had know idea how I was going to do this and was pulling my hair out trying to find the how to do this, the what to seal off, what to put gasket seal on where to attach what to attach wires to. so have put acouple of photos up for you so you can see what I've done or not done, and would appreciate all your knowledge on all the steps i need to know please it would be greatly appreciated. once again thank you so much RM.
Michi

 

thank you this helps heaps. question where do you think that the ewp is best put?

 

Can’t believe how long ago I made this write up. It’s unfortunate my R53 is no longer alive. We did buy an R60 later and love it. My wife said she doesn’t trust me to “Not to” modify another R53 so I’ve been lying low on buying one although I do mention it from time to time. Ridding yourself of the gearing and water pump from the SC and installing an electric WP really is the best bang for the buck when adding power. My SC would wind up faster and not put that load on the engine. Man I miss my R53.

 

Hi Greg I'm putting a ewp 80 into my mini cooper s r53 and would really appreciate any help from you as I'm no mechanic but would like to have ago at doing this, if you have a video or photos of how to do this or a step by step guide please. Thank you Michelle

 

Hi there all was wondering where the best place is to put the ewp80 in my mini also can I keep the stock thermostat in and can I do away with the controller ? help please

 

I like this thread because of all the interest in an EWP80. I would suggest however that this pump is very finicky at best and trouble prone. I wouldn’t recommend it. The water pump is like the heart of your system. If making this mod and hoping to have a reliable trouble free install consider a different pump. I ended up with the Stewart Warner. A lot more costly but is built to last.

 

Which SW if you would.
I agree about the EWP80.

 

THIS. Don't put a EWP into your car. Mine lasted less than 1,000 miles (quite a bit less, but don't recall how much), It stopped working on a short drive, and didn't notice until I turned the car off in the garage and the pump wasn't doing it's 2 minute cool down cycle. Could have been very costly as I had just done a head gasket. I will say that getting rid of the mechanical drag on the supercharger PTO did make it peppier. Risk versus reward I suppose. Not worth it to me.

 

The form factor of those SW pumps look like finding a location and mounting would be somewhat easier than the Davies Craig ones too. Do they use a standalone controller?

 

Thanks guys for all the good information provided in this thread. My R53 SC PTO end just died but the SC seems solid still. I’m going the DC EWP route and had some questions.

Can I leave the old WP on if i remove the drive gear from the PTO end and seal it? It seems simpler to do that then to fabricate the water pump flange extension. If I leave the old WP connected for the coolant to flow through, but detached from the SC, that shouldn’t restrict the flow of coolant too much, right?


Am I able to mount the EWP on the lower radiator hose? This seems like the easiest location and would require the least amount of extra parts and finagling.

Leaving the old WP in place (unconnected from the SC) and mounting the EWP at the lower radiator hose seems like the most straightforward and unobtrusive way to get my car back on the road.

Please let me know your thoughts!
Thanks,
David

 

Since the waterpump will have to be removed before removing the PTO ring gear from the plate, no you can't leave it on. If you're asking if you should reinstall the old waterpump and just use it as watertight seal and pass through since it will then be mechanically disconnected, then the answer is still no if the main point of this mod is about preventative maintenance. The WP worn seals will eventually cause a leak or worse seize up and not allow the propeller to spin. This would restrict flow unless the WP guts are removed. Most old WPs leak, but we've seen a few seize that didn't damage the PTO or head gasket. Even if you mod the WP, then you still have another o-ring on the male port that mates with the flange gasket on the engine block that needs to be replaced. This o-ring leak risk is eliminated if the flange gasket is modified to accept a radiator hose. Just be sure to replace the o-ring under the flange gasket and use Sil-Glyde on it.

Yes, for the manual transmission, the EWP-80 will mount directly onto a shorter hose to the Dorman heater hose adapter (see our other post) that then connects to curved radiator hose to the lower radiator port. This lower hose is identical to the one connected at the top radiator port with the bleeder valve, so just get a second one.

The DC controller kit we use came with a red error LED light that activates for EWP problems and our EWPs have lasted longer. You should also always use a Scangauge II to monitor the coolant temps as warned in our previous posts, since the console gauge is heavily dampened.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I still think that removing the old WP and modifying it so the coolant passes through it is easier for me than fabricating the flange. If I replace the o-ring and do my best to ensure the water pump gasket won’t leak (maybe even remove the impeller), I should be fine?

To me it seems simpler to keep the old WP as a pass through than to find someone to weld and upgrade the flange for the manual WP delete.

If I’m thinking about it backwards, please let me know! I am doing this to get my car back on the road (the sooner and cheaper, the better) not worried about performance gains.

 

I went the easy way and simply bought the fittings from the Sprintex kit. You can buy them seperately if you contact them, unless they're now listed on their website, but they weren't two years ago.