Since Jim and I are both replacing our radiators and water pumps this week, I ran across something I've never heard of before. There is apparently a conversion to fit an electric water pump that saves a fair amount of power. Has anyone actually seen this or tried it?
They've had them in hot rods for years and years, I don't think it's a complicated thing at all.....spendy tho, last I checked.
A water pump in a Mini is fairly easy to change, and if you run a good coolant it should last a very long time. What kills them is not changing the coolant - it has lubricants and seal softeners in it, when those additives go bad, the seal hardens and leaks.
I was more interested in getting 4 extra ponies.
I know a guy runs one on his autocross Mini. John Leiberman over on the MOT forum.
Photos of the install?
Dan,
I don't know if John ever posted any on the MOT forum. You are still registered on there and could sign in and send him a PM to get info. If you need your password reset, let me know.
Edit: I just checked over on the MOT forum and it does not look like he posted anything about it over there. Your best bet is to PM him from the MOT forum.
Did some research today. I found a water pump blocking kit for $70 and a bosch water pump for $75 that is identical to the mega pricey one I saw for this conversion. The rest would simply be getting proper hoses. Doubtful I'll do this anytime soon since I purchased a regular water pump but definitely something that interest me. Seems like an easy power and reliability mod.
My son has one on his race car. I'll quiz him for particulars. It's a fairly large unit and helped him with fairly easy install. Have to remove the impeller.
Kinda skeptical about 4 pony advantage though.
I know on the kad 16v it dynoed an extra 20 fwiw. I can see a few extra just by reducing workload of the engine.
Does that replace the fan with an electric fan?
I believe they did but I'd have to go back and read. I actually ordered a 10in fan kit with thermoswitch this week to see how it does with the rad I'm installing. I have a metal 4 blade which supposedly is heavy and loud so I'm interested to see how the swap goes.
I'd be really interested in any photos/install details. There was a guy on mania a few years ago that claimed to have one but never followed through on requests for photos/install details/performance.
Do you already have a radiator? I'm thinking about making up kits if I do one.
Yeah. I've got an aluminum rad now. I'll be fitting an electric fan anyway when everything goes back together, but a compact electric water pump would be ideal.
Does someone make a kit specifically for the Mini, or will you have to adapt something?
How will you drive the alternator then, just a shorter belt?
Does someone make a blanking plate, or will you just remove the impeller off the pump and leave it there to drive the alternator?
Sounds really spendy for a street driven car to gain a couple of HP, and won't the additional load require a more powerful alternator?
Does the pump run at the same speed all the time or is there an electronic controller that ramps it up based on load, RPM and/or engine temps?
I never saw a kit for sale. I found a couple different pumps and one was used with the stock impeller removed. There would need to be some fab work and fitting to produce something people could bolt on, such as hoses and fan belt differences. I found the blockoff plates but that's something that I could have produced locally. It actually wouldn't be that spendy all things considered, especially if it's time to replace hoses, belts, and pumps. The power required would be no different than if you added rally lights, stereos, electric fuel pumps, ect.. at some point with enough electronics on a car you have to upgrade the alternator but I don't suspect this would be that significant. Benefits are more than a few horsepower, but even 2-4hp is fairly significant on a 35-65hp motor. You're also getting better fuel economy and better cooling. The stock pump is most effective at 2k rpms. At idle it's barely pumping, which is one reason overheating at an idle can be an issue. At high rpms it's past it's efficient range and you can run into cavitation issues. An electric pump removes all of those issues. Extra power, less load, better gas mileage, better cooling, and less noise with the electric fan.
http://www.minimania.com/part/MMKT0706/Electric-Cooling-Fan-Kit---Mini--Mini-Cooper (http://www.minimania.com/part/MMKT0706/Electric-Cooling-Fan-Kit---Mini--Mini-Cooper)
They even claim 1 or 2hp with just taking off the mechanical fan.
http://www.kentautodevelopments.com/blog/article/kad-16v-a-series-water-pump-and-fan-dyno-testing-the-results (http://www.kentautodevelopments.com/blog/article/kad-16v-a-series-water-pump-and-fan-dyno-testing-the-results)
I took the fan off of my engine, and other than the reduction in noise, I didn't feel any difference in engine performance......I'm not sure 1-2 HP is noticeable in the real world.
I'm not arguing against it mind you, I'm all for things that make our engines run better and perform longer and reliably.
Yeah 1 or 2 isn't. But everything starts adding up over time.
So did you go with an electric pump or stay with OEM?
For now just oe. But at some point I'd like to give it a whirl.
Just got an email from DSN about this item. Block off adaptor plate fot the mech. water pump.
http://www.dsnclassics.co.uk/retrosport-shop/engine-accessories/water-pump-removal-plate/
Yeah I may do that this coming summer and see what results I get. I will need to make a shroud to force air through the radiator is the only thing.
I got the email this morning, too. Looks pretty awesome. I've definitely thought about it, but I'm just not at that point yet.