Where exactly was your split hose? On the pump?

 

Did some quick stuff before I have head out for the night. Battery was 14 volts running, 12.9 off. Checked hoses again, PCV didn't have a hose clamp on it so I put one on (felt pretty tight anyway). The vacuum hose on the fuel pressure regulator was halfway off so I pushed it back on - that hose had a couple of knicks on it so I ordered a new one.

Will test the fuel pressure in morning. Bought the tester but checking with a hot engine doesn't appear to be a smart idea.

 

The torn hose was the one feeding fuel from pump to filter. You can remove just that hose alone when you extract the pump.

 

Just came in from checking fuel pressure. My reading is about 41psi. When I mean about, the pressure cycles between 40 to 42 every couple of seconds as the idle moves up and down. Normal? Haynes guide says 40 - 47 is approximate range.

 

Pressure seems right for the R50. This rules out the fuel pump.

 

Just cleaned out the throttle body which had some caked on carbon but still has pulsation at idle so I'm not holding out hope. I disconnected the battery to see if that would reset TB with the cleaning but still the same idle.

Heading out for drive.

 

Just to cover everything, did you try to rev & press clutch while someone checked fuel pressure for you? Here is an excerpt from Pelican's tech articles:
"Another symptom of failure is the pump getting stuck, and then finally kicking in after turning the ignition on and off a couple of times. This could be a clear sign that you are living on borrowed time, and that you should replace the pump immediately. Check the electrical connections to the pump before you replace it to make sure that it's not an electrical problem."
Read entire write up here:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

 

Nope, didn't try. Will get my daughter to help me with that tomorrow. Thanks.

 

Well, did the above this morning. Baseline 41 psi, revved to about 3k rpm and pushed in the clutch and let off gas. Pressure dropped down to about 35 - 35 and then popped back up to 41. Not sure what function is.

 

So it did not stall? Did you say before that it would at only higher revs? Kinda hard to recreate that one in the driveway!

I still think the wiring in the floor area around the clutch pedal is suspect from my experience with off road vehicles that get dunked during deep water fording, but I do agree with other posters that the fuel pump does some really odd things when the wiring is loose or the pump is starting to fail. The high rpm part of your problem description triggers the stall, which would then have nothing to do with the clutch at all. The pressure gauge you are using shows "live" readings and not just peak? IMHO, 35 is really too low, and that could be pump or rubber lines aging and "swelling". I believe you mentioned you put a new fuel filter in, correct one, right? No kinks in the fuel line and still looks like nice hard rubber?

 

You can also try resetting the all of the engine adaptations. I've done this a time or two, and it may have helped.

Mine has done this kind of stall once or twice - with AC on, turning into a parking space. I think sometimes it's possible to lift off the throttle just right so that the ECM doesn't go to idle fuel trim quickly enough and the car dies.

 

No, it's a live reading. When I revved and let off the gas the car dropped below idle and then idled fine.

The hoses looked fine when I replaced the filter - no splitting or anything that an untrained person like me would see.

I had the battery off the car once for a few days. Wouldn't that have reset everything?

 

I don't think so - I believe the adaptations will be saved even after disconnecting the battery. You need a diagnostic tool to do it. I use a OBDII to USB cable with BMW INPA software on my laptop to do it.

The car dropping below idle and then idling fine is pretty normal. Mine has done that for as long as I can remember.

Resetting the engine idle adaptation can improve it over time. On mine, right after resetting that particular adaptation, it would drop pretty significantly before stabilizing. Then, as it "learned" the adaptation, it wouldn't drop as much. Now, it's really not bad at all.

 

Resetting is worth a try. A failing fuel pump will either deteriorate gradually showing more & more symptoms than just stalling or die instantly like a buddy's R50 CVT a few days back. He ran the car on empty. He wasn't aware that our pumps use fuel as its coolant. After refilling, it simply refused to start.

 

Awaiting a couple of vacuum hoses from the dealer. I am not holding out hope that I won't have to spend $300 on a new fuel pump.

 

Can you throw up the part numbers that your ordered for future visitors to this thread?

 

1 Vent hose 11157510750
1 VACUUM PIPE 13531504754

I can't remember where each one is located on car right now. There is another one that goes to fuel tank vent that was $40 - did not order.

 

Should it be your pump, get the VDO, MINI OEM supplier, 1/3 cheaper & free shipping:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...2534%2529%2520

While you're at it, include the cheap fuel rail pressure regulator vac tube around $8:
13-51-7-515-136
Crank case vent valve around $20+: 11-12-7-829-990 for 02-6/04 build w/ 8mm bolt hole,
or 11-12-7-577-568 for 04 up.

 

Wouldn't you expect a small drop in pressure when revving the engine, since more of the fuel is now going into the engine, and the pump has a fixed amount of supply?

 

Unfortunately, mine is non-S 2006 so fuel pump choices seem to be limited to Mini. I'm going to see how these hoses do and decide then.

 

Some extract the pump out of the assembly & fit a Walbro pump kit into it. Check eBay & Amazon, they're mostly from the UK, though Walbro is US-made. Less than $100.

 

This : many times the internal pump is quite generic and you reuse the sophisticated housing it goes in to save $3-500. Sorry I don't know the number but before you put the cash down you might have a look.

Watching this thread closely, fuel hoses and pumps are common problems on cars as they get older especially in my climate.

 

Auto parts warehouse sells the VDO pump for the non-S, which is the OEM pump.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sk...3-1665978.html

About $100 cheaper than from the dealer.

 

Well, have replaced the hoses but the old ones didn't look that bad. I guess I'll see what happens over the next few days.

 

Well, going order a new pump tomorrow. Died yesterday while going up hill and letting off gas as approached stoplight. Tank was less than 1/3 full and thinking about it, car seems to only exhibit problems when below 1/2 tank.