Hello,
I just had my HPFP begin to fail with 61,000mi on the warranted replacement pump on my 2009 JCW. According to my vehicle’s service record it was a replacement installed at 64,000mi on the car from the dealer. I was told this pump was supposed to be the redesigned one. I have a new one on order but removed mine to inspect and see if I could find any obvious issues that I could repair while I wait on the new one.

In doing some preliminary research I found this article.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...lve-2/6fMytZSd

It appears that the BMW N54 engine pump has a similar design and the same issues. I believe all the principals and parameters are the same between the two cars. I also noticed that the part that they call the "Volume control valve" is the same one used on our pumps. This thread has a lot of info on the N54 pump as well.

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showth...t=19447&page=5

Upon inspection of my pump I found that the two O-rings on the "Volume control valve" were very hard and cracked on one side and square shape cross section instead of round. The O-rings seemed to be tight while pulling the valve out, but if there was any lubrication on the O-rings the valve slid in and out with little resistance. I believe they only seemed to have more resistance when removing the valve because of the square shape of the deteriorated old O-rings twisting themselves upon the drag of removal if that makes any sense. The valve itself was in good visual condition and actuated as I would have expected. From what I can find the O-rings are Buna-n and have a poor capability with ethanol. I ordered new Viton O-rings from McMaster Carr part numbers 1288N112, and 1288N111. The original O-rings I am sure are metric, but I could not find a good match available in metric, but the SAE O-rings seemed to look close and fit nicely and tight. Once I got the O-rings I cleaned everything with berryman B12 chemtool dried the parts and installed the O-rings on the Volume control valve. Be sure to remove the inlet tube and clean the screen that is inside that tube. I then lubed them up with Red Line Two Stroke Race Oil and slid the valve into the pump. After I assembled the pump I dripped a few drops of the two-stroke oil into the inlet of the pump for some pre-lube to ensure some lubrication while the pump is priming up.
The car did start hard the first time, but I am suspect that was a combination of the air in the line and the two-stroke oil that caused the hard-initial start. I test drove the car and it now idles rock solid with the AC on and off. I have had the car since 101,000 miles on the clock and it has never idled so nice. I started it the next morning with the outside air temp at 32F and it started up right away.
Time and lower temps will tell if this has solved my problem but from my perspective the Volume Control Valve or decayed O-rings are most likely the cause of most of these failures. Viton is a far superior material to use for fuel systems as it is compatible to gasolines and Ethanol as well. For you Euro folks I don’t think you have the same fuel compositions as we do here in the USA so you may want to check a materials capability chart to find the most suitable O-rings.
I will try and report back with my findings as the winter progresses.

 

Many have discussed the issue, you may be the one to solve it and save lots of folks some serious cash.

Looking forward to your further posts on it.

 

Good research and problem solving. Keep us posted on how it does. The original HPFP on my '09 JCW is still hanging in there, but I'm on pins and needles.....

Thanks!

 

wow great work...
Ben

 

Awesome!

Moved this to Stock Problems/Issues (debated about How To, but I figure more people will see it here.)

Do you have any pics to add?

 

Nice work, and much appreciated!

Adding a subscription to this thread for easier finding later. Maybe I'll try rebuilding my pump in the spring...

 

I am terrible at photo documenting my work, I have restored a few vintage motocross bikes and got to completion and realized I didn't even take a picture of the bike before I started. I usually only use pictures to take a picture to help with reassembly
I took a picture of the volume control valve before I actuated it to make sure it looked the same after I actuated it a few times but that's about it. There aren't really many other parts to take pictures of because really all took out was the volume control valve and the inlet pipe.
I could probably take pictures of the o-rings to show the cracks and square-ish shape.
To give a recap of the most recent timeline, the car has not started well or at all while cold since the beginning of December (starts and stalls). After the reseal and reassembly on Tuesday and the initial rough start I have started it Yesterday morning at around 7:30am. I drove it to work, started it at lunch time around 12:00pm, Started it up at 4:30pm and after a 0:15 cool down when I was picking up my daughter. I then started it up after cooling down at home for about 0:30 and restarted it after 2 hour cool down. I Started it this morning before work at 7:30am.
Every time I have tried to start it after I have made the repairs it has started correctly, and I am hopeful that it continues to start this way for the future. It is supposed to be much cooler next week here in Indiana so I will get a chance to test colder starts. If this doesn't hold up I will tear into it further and report. I bet there are more o-0rings that could need to be replaced but I wanted to try one variable at a time.

 

Hi all, my first post here, I am from the UK and a member on many UK clubs but the technical help side of things over here is somewhat lacking, your website has helped me in the past but now I cannot find an exact answer and could do with a little guidance if someone would be so kind!

I have a mini cooper s, stage 2 running a manic map. It is on 72k miles and was upgraded around 5k miles ago. Upgrade list is; Forge IC, ITG panel filter, GFB Recirc, Miltek Decat, coilovers, forge cold side pipe. Since the day it was mapped I have been having issues.

Under load, when accelerating I get hesitation, I do not get a check engine light and normal scanners do not pick up a code. When accelerating from around 2k rpm it accelerates smoothly throughout the range, when i accelerate from about 4.5k rpm, again smooth and consistent acceleration. If however I accelerate between this range i get a pulsing acceleration with it backing off and then going all the way until 4.5k rpm. Bit confused so connected up the Torque Pro app and monitored everything, I also took it to a garage to get the codes read and got the Superknock code with fuel cut off. However no other codes, nothing relating to a missfire or any other issues. When it is cold, very rarely, once started it the rpm will drop low as though it is going to stall itself, 1 in 10 times it will stall but the rest of the time it is a momentary thing and is fine. This happens maybe 1 in 20 start ups. Idle is smooth and sits around 900rpm. It has been like this since April and has not got any worse or any better.

So i researched as much as I could and came up with the likely culprits, spark plugs, coil packs, HPFP, carbon, thermostat and did what I could to eliminate all. I have completed the following;

Changed all of the coil packs to Bosch units (Previously Delphi) - No change.
Monitored fuel rail pressure on cold start and driving in various conditions - All fine, at cold start it is around 62bar however does appear to be a bit strong whilst accelerating hard exceeding 150bar.
Carbon - Had it professionally wallnut blasted - Does appear to have helped slighlty but very noticably the issue persists.
Oil Change - Changed two weeks ago and then again at the same time as the wallnut blasting 2 days ago.
Thermostat - Monitored coolant temps, all seem fine, normal driving it sits around 82oC and goes up to around 94oC after a few runs.
Spark Plugs - These were replaced when the car was mapped which was when the issues started. Checked these and they were carboned up which is consistent with running rich...continued...
Running rich - Under heavy acceleration, noticable smoke emitted from the rear along with strong smell of fuel (likely due to decat) however exhaust tips get very very black very quickly.
Recirc Valve - Replaced with GFB valve - no difference
Contacted mappers and manic - Couldn't tell me the issue, offered refund but I'd rather keep the map and have the car sorted. I have no issues with either company and don't believe that anything untoward has occured.
Put the stock map back on - Issue now present even when running stock
Fault code - 2F7C - Super knock, injector cut
Fuel System Cleaner - Stuck a can of BG44k through, doesn't seemed to have made any difference.
Cam chain tensioner - Replaced with BMW part, made no difference but the stock one was clearly failing due to it exploding when i removed it.
Fuel - Always ran on the highest rated available fuel (either Tesco - 99ron or Shell vPower - 98Ron)

Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do or change? Reading this back I am wondering if I do have a weak spark plug but it seems strange that a superknock code would not throw up a check engine light!

Any help would be very much appreciated. I'd like to sort it asap as I am starting to fall out of love with the car :(

 

Joining the thread here courtesy of Minnie.The.Moocher and squawSkiBum -- elsinorej, this thread is gold.

I have a 2011 Cooper S with an N18 engine, and I have four (4) -- that's right, 4 HPFPs in my possession. The first came on the car, the second was a $99 snag from a junker, the third was a "new" aftermarket (reman) that got damaged when FedEx dropped it on the concrete outside my front door, and the fourth is in the car now -- and showing signs of issues. Since I have four of these things, I'm thinking I have good opportunity here to do what you're doing and pursue a rebuild strategy.

On #4 (the in-car one), there is an occasional but increasingly frequent CC-ID 029 that pops up alongside a loss in power that is perceptible as engine hesitation, particularly on hard acceleration. It's more of an annoyance than a problem but I recognize this symptom set from the prior installs. It didn't do this initially.

There's an interesting tell though -- I seem to have clean oil accumulating on the ring of the thermal compensator (as identified in the third diagram in the first link you provided, https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...lve-2/6fMytZSd).

Might you have any theories about the oil leak? And to clarify -- in diagram #3, those O-rings you discussed live on the "Quantity control valve?"

Let me know if pics would help.

Edited to add: just placed an order for the O-rings from McMaster-Carr. Can't wait.

 

if you drive it normally as in gradual acceleration, does it behave the same?

Also, there are two more components that play in the equation; the turbo, and the vanos system! did you mention if this is an N18 or N14, year of the car, manual or auto?

 

Sorry, it's the N18 and manual.

No turbo play and when i accelerate smoothly it accelerates fine with no issues at all! What is the vanos? I havent heard of that one.

I did have a leaking sump though so whipped that off today and found some plastic but not the tensioner guides...bit odd though!

 

the N18 engine has an advanced/electric sump. These are the shields of the wires.

The vanos is another device the engine uses to advance or retard the timing based on oil pressure/acceleration. There two vanos solenoids on the head. One in the back right next to the chain tensioner and another on in the front around the oil dip stick mointimg bracket. Also, check realoem.com for more details and part numbers.

 

That's great thanks! Can the solenoid be replaced or is it cleanable?

 

since it works under normal acceleration, just clean it up and see if that helps/changes it. you can source a good set on ebay for a fairly low price (somewhat).

 

VANOS cleaned (both) and sump resealed, spark plugs cleaned and gapped to 0.6 , slight blow in exhaust fixed, all intake pipes checked and tightened. MAF cleaned.

The solenoid were not really dirty but gave them a good spray and pat down.

Still no change. Still no fault codes either. Its now had 3 oil changes in a week!!

Could it be the fuel pump and I'm getting bad readings?

 

I hate to say everything is possible, but it is possible. The issue appears to be upon sudden high demand of fuel. perhaps, these minis are not meant to be pushed in a sudden but gradual sense.
Also, is it possible the catless pipe doesnt provide back pressure to turbo...can you try reinstalling the cat pipe back and re-test to compare?

 

lots of people run the same decat without issue, I think I'm going to buy a fuel pump and see what that does. At this rate I'll have a new engine! It' very annoying that it began instantly when it was mapped and had new plugs and now I can' get rid of it. And I also get no check engine light :/ so strange

it also went to stall itself today it was running g for 5 mins then I turned it off and on and it went to stall but saved itself

 

perhaps the mapping is set so the CEL doent come on for emission related ailment. can you force a CEL? for example, run the car with a disconnected MAP sensor?

 

I decided to take a punt on the fuel pump and took it off, then stripped it apart. But i think i'll be ordering a new one. I took photos of stripping it down so i'll get them up soon!

Incase anyone is wondering what is inside...

 

If you mean the HPFP then that isnt oil. That is grease to keep it lubed. Lol....

It would've been nice to know if you were able to trigger the CEL as i suggested earlier to confirm such light will show up upon occurring faults.

 

hmm it was very thick and black..i ammended the post though

I'm pretty sure it does kick up a light, i've forced a missfire code and got a light in the past

 

Edit: It's meant to have oil

 

I rebuilt the pump and put it back in the car (using new seals) and the problem is much worse, its the same as previous but amplified many times. There is also still no code, i am putting this down to it being the fuel pump and have bit the bullet and ordered a new one...only $570... :/

 

I think the issue with these pumps are the solenoid. Of course they are not sold individually!

I hope the new one fixes the issue

 

Edit: This is in reply to elsinorej original post before the posts were merged.

------

So these are the two O-rings you replaced?


Links for the lazy:
https://www.mcmaster.com/#1288n112/=1avqwxh
https://www.mcmaster.com/#1288n111/=1avqx6j