VW has the same problem on a greater scale. They call it a crack pipe/water pipe.



Hold tight as we hope to have a better solution soon.

 

I haven't got it to work yet. The plane hasn't left the tarmac. I can line it up and start it into the water pump but it does't "slide in". I read people telling me that once started screwing in the Thermostat will force the pipe in.

I do not want to have to open this beast back up 2 weeks from now because it is leaking. If I have the OEM pipe, does it slide into the water pump housing without "hoping" the thermostat is going to force it in far enough? Did the people who used the OEM pipe have to use the Thermostat screws to force the pipe the rest of the way in fingers crossed?

 

I would uses a little grease on the gasket and it will slide in. Also make sure their is no pieces of the old one when its cracks at the tip it tends to stick to the metal part of the housing/block.

 

I know it has only been a month since you posted this but......I ordered the OEM thermostat housing and coolant from you (ECS) a few weeks ago and was about to do the swap when I learned all this about the Cross Over Pipe Of DOOM. SO, I need to go ahead and order one.....How long do you think it will be before you guys are ready to sell your new improved design??? Thanks as always.

 

We are about a couple month out. We are finalizing some things on the design. Once its gtg we will post in this thread. And it will also be in the announcements on here. We have some other cool ECS items in the work also that are not cooling related coming out down the road this year.

If you are leaking i would get the febi one or one to get you rolling. Someone will buy your used Genuine ones since they don't have have much time on them, if you do install the water pipe.

 

So recently replaced the crossover tube 3times. 1st one being eBay 2nd 1 being a aftermarket from a parts store.3rd is oem bmw/mini. Take a look at the different heights. Left is ebay ..middle is parts store...right is oem.
ebay and parts store brand both leaked only when the car was cold. It did not leak when hot or running. Finally the oem one fixed all problems.bottom pic the oem is on top.moral of the story cheap ones leak.

 

I found the difference to be the O-Ring. If you look at the OEM O-ring, you see it is smaller and loose compared to the much thicker one on the left. The reason the OEM does this is to allow the O-ring to be pushed in and then "flatten" into the space left in the crevice, filling it and thus holding the part in tight and leak free. It really is as simple as that. I believe you can make the cheaper ones work but you still need to buy the OEM O-ring and throw the cheap O-Ring away. You would think the thicker O-ring is more likely to be tighter. However, it won't fit in the space. If you are able to cram it somewhat, chances are high the O-ring is not completely in or had to become deformed to get in.

However, this was a nightmare lesson learned because I didn't buy my parts from E-Bay, I bought them from ECSTuning. I called them first and they told me the one I was buying that was cheaper was the original equipment provider. I know they advertise on here and a sponsor, but I have had nothing but problems with them. I will never buy another car part from them so long as I live. Generally, at this point, I just buy the OEM parts. They cost more but it will save you hours and hours of headaches trying to make the wrong part work, dealing with products that never get shipped or never received and the hassle of being lied to. Nothing beats ZEN, easy installation and something just WORKING right from the start.

Thank you for reminding me of this because sometimes the lesson has to be relearned.

 

The original might work and im not saying all aftermarket tubes are bad. There may be some that are good. The 2 aftermarket ones i tried would sit crooked in the water pump opening bc the angle curve was off. They both leaked only when the car was cold then i installed the oem pipe which also felt loose but not a drop. The reason they leaked was bc the pipe wasnt sitting flush but a couple of degrees off bc the angle of the curve of the pipe was off. Reason i wrote this is i dont want someone wasting time trying to make bad parts work. The aftermarket pipe is 25 vs $90 for oem. Not worth the time and headache just go oem. However i did use numerous aftermarket thermostats b4 with no issues just fyi

 

If anyone is still interested here is how I did it to replace that pipe with rubber hose I have this for one week and so far so good
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-solution.html

 

For our MINI people on the forums we have some early release Aluminum Metal Water Pipes. Not too many in stock so they might go fast. We will have more coming in soon after that.

I have been running this on my personal car for almost over a year. Matches the factory design.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-part.../048583la01~a/

 

This pipe is back in stock ^^

 

wish I saw this a last month when I replaced my thermostat. Left my old pipe bc it was stuck and in good shape (believe the wiring harness below intake manifold was clipped to it).

how confident are we in this being a life time product? I don’t even want to see this thing again and wondering if it’ll outlast a new genuine pipe or if the weak link is the oring on either pipe.

 

I am convinced the original pipe isn't THAT bad. My engine has 170k+ miles, and I replaced the thermostat but left the OEM pipe.

 

I am running it and have been for some time. I will keep that one on.

When we removed my Genuine MINI one with about 100K is fell apart on the end connected to the back of the water pump. Much like most of the pics you have seen.

So the Genuine MINI one might last long, but if you touch anything around it to do a repair, it cracks and leaks. The thermostat touches it and anything from carbon blasting to waterpump work you might bump it.

 

While on the subject, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being easy as changing the oil, to 10 being hard like replacing the suspension trust and shocks on all sides) how hard is it to do an coolant flush?

I need to do ours and on a video made by a Mini mechanics he uses some vacuum system to check for leaks and remove all air: It's sounds complicated?

 

I have the Schwaben coolant vacuum tool, and it made changing my thermostat almost easier than changing the oil. The hardest part was getting the clip that holds the tube on the thermostat back on. That task alone took me almost 30 minutes.

 

Yep its here: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben.../024948sch01a/




Factory tool is here: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...392152473~oem/

 

So in all cases this requires an air compressor?


I wouldn't call that easier then...

 

The tool does require a compressor. It uses the air flow to create the vacuum.

If I was only changing the coolant, and not performing the full thermostat replacement, the vacuum tool makes it way easier than changing the oil.

 

Ah, that's what I thought... And I don't have the garage space to own a compressor currently...

 

Even something like this would be plenty to run that vacuum tool:
https://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...sor-57567.html

 

I imagine it might... thanks for the link. I'm thinking about what to do...

 

Hey guys, thanks for all the helpful info here. Is there anyway to remove the crossover pipe without removing the thermostat housing? I’m currently staring at the pipe lol

 

It “could” be removed without removing the thermostat, but there is no way a new one would go in without removing the thermostat. That pipe is held in place by the thermostat and water pump housing, and the thermostat needs to be removed.

 

Good info for the air compressor.......