Just wanted to tag in here, mine had similar symptoms to all of you. I feel somewhat dumb because mine has had these symptoms for almost a year and I kept treating the symptoms. I didn't think it could be the HPFP because mine had already been replaced once according to the paperwork I got with her. I can tell you she is running better now and I will try to update again after a few weeks. I had CEL for misfire 1 and 3 as well as a random misfire. I also had a CEL for O2 sensors. It seems that both of these have been resolved.

My mini is an r55 with the n14, I don't know what brand the old one was but I found a Bosch unit locally for about $400 which seemed like one of the better deals I could find.

I will hang onto my old unit for a while in case one of those folks that have been dissecting these are interested in acquiring it. I am located in San Antonio, TX for shipping or pickup purposes.

Thanks for being such an awesome community.

 

how many miles did the old one last?

 

FYI I made this video which covers a lot of the content digested from this informative thread.

 

Honestly, I don't know because the paperwork stating that it was replaced doesn't have a mileage number on it. But based on the date, I would guess the last one lasted about 20k to 30k miles. But I cannot say for sure.

Btw I have not had a CEL since I replaced it and the car certainly runs better without hesitation and the fuel pressure numbers have normalized.

 

Just wanted to mention that the HPFP is under "Limited Warranty"
10 years/120,000 miles, whichever occurs first, as determined by your vehicle's original in-service date.

 

follow the videos if interested to repair.
BMW, Minis and Peaguet has similar pumps

 

Wow you guys --

So, ok, highlights. I'm the guy with the "fuel pump museum on the kitchen counter" (no, not kidding, it's not a metaphor, I have four of them), whose 2011 Cooper S LCI got hit by a drunk driver while working towards trying to figure out how to pry one of these open (2018).

You guys have come a LONG way since then. And you have all reminded me that this is one heck of a forum.

Which makes me even happier to say that my ultimate solution to the N18 HPFP problem was the 2011 Cooper getting hit and insurance messed-up (despite being plenty drivable -- and the insurance thing is still a mess), ultimately followed by...

...procurement of a 2017 F56 Cooper S.

Ok, I didn't buy the 2017 to fix the HPFP, but it is good to return to the fold.

If anybody wants my four-unit-strong HPFP museum, I will turn it loose for a likeridonculously reasonable price. HOWEVER, from one post way up there:

I suspect the diaphragm is broken on at least two of these, maybe all of them. So this is pretty close to a donation exercise to someone curious (let me know).

***If you want to fix your HPFP situation for real the ultimate outcome of the thread looks clear: get a new (not museum-quality) HPFP.***

 

Just wanted to say a huge "thank you!" to everyone who contributed to this thread.

I ran across this link tonight..... I think it will interest this group...
Looks like a full kit to rebuild these pumps... seals to bearing to fasteners....

https://www.stardiesel.com/en/rep-ki...517592429.html

Happy motoring...
Mark

 

nice kit...the problem is they ONLY sell to businesses. Also, we need the special tools to remove the inside "sleeves" to be able to reach the seals separating the gas and oil.

 

Well, if anyone figures out how to get the kit AND figures they have the tools and whatnot -- all adding up to all they need is an HPFP -- I still have four of these buggers accumulating dust so I'll donate one for experimentation upon, lol

 

👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻
For all the searching I’ve done on this topic the one thing that seems to have eluded me is the size of the two larger O-rings on the oil side of the pump….. and I guess confirmation on the proper type of oil to use.

thanks all. 🍻

 

Hello, I ran across your thread and I was wondering what symptoms your Mini showed that led you to the teardown? I've "refreshed" my 3rd pump twice with tips from a YouTube video - Mr2Tempos - but I've never messed with the fuel control valve. What was your Mini doing at the time?

 

In the case of my R56, the so-called “half-engine” light, which would generally appear under acceleration after any reset — had to drive the car rather gingerly to avoid it, and not possible to avoid it at all on the highway.

That would be quickly followed by a permanent code and accompanying check engine light, and the car would go into “limp mode,” a reduced power mode that would make you forget your Mini is something more powerful than an old Yugo (I exaggerate, but only slightly — trying to hard accelerate uphill in limp mode or at highway speed is not fun). No way to get back to normal other than to reset the code (extremely temporary fix) or, ultimately, replace the HPFP (circa 2018; I no longer have my R56).

I actually went through multiple HPFPs in different levels of failure, and one thing I learned for sure it isn’t all or nothing (where it does all of what I describe bing bang boom or not at all). But once it starts to show up, it isn’t going away.

At its worst I was driving all over creation trying to figure out how to get my car in for annual emissions without tripping the check engine light (1) while getting all the drive cycle/readiness tests completed and (2) actually getting my R56 to the emissions testeing facility. Not fun. But learned a ton, I’ll tell you that.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, my symptoms have been almost identical but my pump is losing hydraulic pressure as evidenced by the empty expansion chamber. I've rebuilt it twice and I'm gonna do it a third time tomorrow, maybe try a different oil. I've been following a guy on YouTube - Mr2tempos. He's an older guy from Brazil that I stumbled across and he's got some good "refresh" videos. I used 10W30 the first time and rotary screw compressor oil the second time. The 10W30 absolutely gave out after about 800 miles. The compressor oil has allowed me to limp around for almost 2000 but I had to change my water pump so I figured what the hell it'll only take an extra hour or two to recharge the fuel pump! I'm currently unemployed and looking for a decent pump that won't cost me $700 or more!

 

I have a "fuel pump museum" consisting of four (4) of these things. Can't make any promises about their usability, but if you feel they'll increase your odds by at least having enough parts between them to get you a working one, they're yours at no cost. Send me a private message if interested. From your comments it sounds like knowing how to rebuild them has come a long way since I and others in this thread were scratching our heads back in 2018.

 

Hi Guys,

I have been reading this thread I have currently made 2 attempts to replace the oil inside my N18 hpfp (part no. 13517592429).

First Attempt of oil refilling with 18mm distance using the vernier caliper:
When using 75w90 Valvoline Fully Synthetic Gear oil, the engine turns right away with just 1 try. Engine Idles fine for about 15-20 minutes up until the coolant temperature reaches 85 degrees Celsius (185 degrees Fahrenheit).
The fuel pressure suddenly drops and the engine cannot start again until it cools down. DTC C021 came up with a half engine light. If I don't let it cool down, it just sputters and cannot build fuel pressure.

Second Attempt with of oil refilling with 17mm distance using the vernier caliper:
When using 5w40 Fully Synthetic Engine Oil, the engine turn right away with just 1 try. Engine Idles file for about 20-30 minutes up until the coolant temperature reaches 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit).
The fuel pressure becomes erratic at first until it will finally drop and force the engine to stall. DTC C021 came up with a half engine light. I can start the car again without waiting for a cool down, but it would again stall after 1-3 minutes.

So it would appear that my hpfp prefers "thinner" oils....

If I try to keep my coolant temp below 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit), I don't encounter any problems. But in order to maintain this temperature, I had to use 2 stand fans directed towards the the engine bay in full blast.

I am beginning to think that maybe the SOLENOID is what is causing the problem. Anyone else have similar issues like me?
Basically the car would start without any problems when it is cold. But when it reaches a higher temperature, the hpfp gives up. Maybe my solenoid cannot handle high temperatures?

BTW, I used a medical syringe to create a small vacuum that will allow me to add more oil. That is why I got 18mm and 17mm measured from the top of the bell housing.

Any thoughts?

Best Regards,

 

Interesting trials... I've refilled my N18 pump several times before it finally gave up. I learned about it via a YouTube Guru named mr2times - he recommends the lubricating oil used in screw compressors and it has put another 1500 miles of life into my pump several times. I also used vacuum to achieve the 18mm mark - where are you filling from?

 

I also watched mr2tempos videos on youtube and tried to translate the Portuguese captions manually.

I refilled the oil through the top opening only, but it is a 2 man job. I carefully suction the air inside the bell housing while another guy slowly tightened the 3 screws. Each time I notice that the oil was about to spill out, I increase the vacuum by pulling the medical syringe even further.

I tried to find an oil that was used for screw compressors but I only found Amsoil (Synthetic Compressor Oil - ISO 100, SAE 30/40). I will be trying to this oil a few hours from now.
I want to prepare this pump as a back up unit while waiting for the brand new unit to arrive from overseas.

I already placed an order for a new PSA hpfp from fcpeuro. I guess the lifetime warranty will be worth it because I am planning on keeping this R56 for a few more years.

I would like to add that I already replaced the K96 relay that was soldered inside the JBE. I also replaced the LPFP just a few months ago together with a new fuel filter and housing. I doubled checked the BLUE-WHITE wire on the LPFP and it is getting 12v when priming and 14v when the engine is running. Whenever the engine starts to stall, 13v-14v voltage was still on the LPFP so I think it is no a LPFP issue.

My R56 only has 11K kilometers (6,835 miles) on it. The wife barely uses it, but so far I already replaced the HPFP, LPFP, Fuel Filter with housing, Auxiliary Coolant Pump, Thermostat Housing, AC Blower, Rear Hatch door switch and that damned Water Pump.

This is the second time the HPFP failed. The first replacement only ran for about 2K kilometers (1,243 miles). It was replaced on December 2019. I am not sure if it was a refurbished unit but it was advertised as brand new and at that time cost me about 500-600 usd.

Can somebody share a link or a picture of how the newer Bosch hpfp looks like?

Best Regards

 

@skiddd An early R56 with less than 10,000 miles on it?! These cars don’t like to sit and do nothing, they need to be driven. Maybe at least a few of your issues are just from not being driven.

This is the early style HPFP:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...3517592429kt1/

This is the newer Bosch HPFP:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-assemble...518605102ktkt/

It is unfortunate that the fuel pumps are not interchangeable. The newer one is so much less expensive.

 

Google does a pretty good job auto translating Portuguese and displaying sub-titles into a wide variety of languages - that is how I got through his videos - plus I speak Spanish and that helps.

I went to a local Ingersoll Rand distributor and told them what I was doing and they just gave me a gallon of the stuff they had laying around. I don't know if that is an option for you but good luck with the Amzoil it is good quality too.

I am going to try and "glue" something to the back of the plate in the expansion chamber so I can just pull it out to get the maximum amount of oil in the pump that I can. That would solve the problem of where it disappears to, but it will make the pump work the best it can in the meantime.

Speaking of what happens to the oil I've never seen a pist about that topic or the root cause... I assume it is leaking out into the gas side because I don't see any evedence of it leaking out elsewhere. Any takers on that topic?

I will have to check out the FCP model I didn't know it has a lifetime warranty... that definitley could make it worth the much higher price. Thanks for your info. ✌️

 

Buried way way way back in this thread is my experience with the OSIAS pumps. Short version, after installing a "good one" on my now-former R56, I ultimately found it leaking out of the bottom of the bell housing/expansion chamber. Not only was there oil in that location on the HPFP itself, it had clearly been dripping onto the engine components below it. I cleaned the oil off of those components by hand and it was definitely not engine oil (or some other oil, or from some other source).

I have laid hands on a total of four (4) R56 HPFPs out-of-vehicle. All of them had evidence of oil in this location -- where it shouldn't be -- except for one. That one had run itself bone-dry (or at least it was malfunctioning 100% of the time instead of maybe/kinda/sometimes) and was the HPFP that came on the car (might have been its second, I wasn't the first owner of the car, but you get the idea).

 

We got some more OEM pumps in, Genuine PSA pump for the one version is on its way here. I am still on my factory pump since new in my R58 JCW at 125K. I drive mine a bunch and long distances. I never let the gas run low so maybe it helped it more. Together with long trips and only setting during the very cold winter. I start and let run in the winter also.

If i find anything that can extend the life of the pump or a all in one seal kit thats easy to replace i will post up here. Our install kits go on sale from time to time.

 

@njaremka Thank you for showing me the bosch hpfp. It looks similar to those of what VW uses which are driven by a cam lobe.

@tlbuss I actually tried to super glue a 4mm screw to the back plate of the expansion chamber but it did not stick properly because the back plate probably had a thin layer of oil on it's surface.

Sadly, the amsoil compressor oil has similar effects as the 5W40 :((( Car can idle as long as the temps are kept below 90 degrees. I tried to drive it around the block and it starter to sputter upon reaching 94 degrees Celsius. I had to let the car cool down to the lower 70's so that I could get it back to my garage. I did not get any DTC codes since I quickly shut down the engine before it could go into limp mode. I was able to drive around for a good 20 minutes or so.

 

Hi,

I am happy to report that I was able to partially refresh one of my hpfp

I came across a video of a BMW hpfp teardown and it briefly explained the inner workings of these pumps. I noticed that the BMW pump was using a similar (if not the same) solenoid as the Mini and I decided to check the solenoids in my pumps. For those interested, this is the video
I then proceeded to remove the hpfp with Amsoil Compressor lubrication from my car and I noticed that I lost a few millimeters of lubrication.

18.3mm.... It was previously 17.7mm

It would appear that I lost about 0.6mm of lubrication, but I could not see any visual leaks around the hpfp.

I then removed the solenoid from the pump.

17 213 3236L does not bring any relevant google searches


This next part might be offensive to some people.... because I replaced the O-rings with generic plumbing O-rings I had lying around. Please do not hate me . I didn't want to order the proper O-rings online and wait a couple more days before they will arrive.



Solenoid with O-rings replaced.


The new O-rings were a very tight fit (not the proper sizes) but I initially thought it will just be temporary.

I put it back to the car and drove it around the block waiting for the temps to go high and for the hpfp to fail. But this time it didn't. My OBD logger showed the highest temperature reached was 98 degrees Celsius but the car normally stayed within the 84-88 degrees Celsius range.

I gambled a trip to the nearest petrol station to fill her up. I opted not to do a spirited drive as I am still not confident with the hpfp yet. Got back to my garage with around 18 kilometers logged in for around 45 minutes (including idling). The drive was smooth. No engine hesitations at all.

I let the engine cool down and then I removed the hpfp again to check the lubrication height. I got 17.9mm this time. Which makes me think the lubricant probably had some expansion because the hpfp was still warm when I removed it. It is also possible that my vernier caliper is not accurate at all.


I want to try and apply the same lubrication and O-ring modifications to my original stock hpfp but I realized that I was already spending too much time and effort on this. My new hpfp is coming in the mail next week anyway. What really grinds my gear is that I failed to realize that this replacement hpfp that I "refreshed" was still under a 3 year warranty. I could have just made a warranty claim. The pandemic really affected my mental timeline.



I don't want to give the false impression that this method will fix any kind of hpfp failure. I just followed what other people already advised in this thread. I am not a mechanical engineer and I know my refreshed hpfp will mostly likely fail again at the most unexpected moment.

If your hpfp can start cold without any problems but starts to fail at higher temps, it is possible that your hpfp may have the same failure points as mine. Please do check the other usual suspects such as the LPFP and relay K96 inside the JBE.


To sum it up:
R56 S N18 2011
Odometer Reading: 11,378 Kilometers
HPFP Brand = "bnew OE" made in Czech Republic bought from a reputable online parts dealer
Lubrication Used = Amsoil (Synthetic Compressor Oil - ISO 100, SAE 30/40)
Lubrication Height = 17.7mm~18.3mm (lower is better) measured from the top of the hole of the bell housing.
Country Climate = Hot, Too Hot, Rainy, Too Rainy... (no winters)


I will still replace this hpfp once the new part arrives next week. It will just serve as a backup and will probably live in the boot for emergency purposes.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who shared their findings! It was a good learning experience for me.

Best Regards

 

Cool post. Good stuff.

The solenoid in the BMW video definitely looks like the same one in the N18 HPFP. I fiddled with it a lot, and did some experimenting with the seals. I'm pretty firm in my belief that the original seals are not great -- they harden and crack. I did try a different material -- chemical-resistant low temp fluorosilicone -- with mixed but promising results at the time. But 4 years of sitting on my kitchen counter later (I'm not kidding), I pulled a solenoid out of one of the 4 in my "museum" and found that the middle fluorosilicone ring had partially stuck to the interior of the HPFP and split as I removed the solenoid. No material was left in the chamber, which was lucky, but you get the idea.

I think the original material for the black rings is chemical-resistant Viton fluoroelastomer. But I can't prove it.
I also think the original material for the bottom blue ring is chemical-resistant low temp fluorosilicone. But I similarly can't prove it.

In any case, if one can get replacement rings that work and meet temperature and other requirements, that's a good thing. But I would be careful with this given the combination of hi engine temperatures and gasoline. I don't think you'll get an actual fire (unless the bottom solenoid seal breaks down wholesale), but if one of those rings melts or otherwise decomposes inside the solenoid chamber, your solenoid is probably not going to, uh, "like it much." Note that gasoline breaks down rubber.

Still a doggoned good experiment. And IIRC it's tough to find rings that are an exact match to the shape of the original (I wasn't able to).