Concerns on HPFP Longevity
It is no secret that the continental Hpfps have been subject to failures and recalls in the past. So we made it a high priority during testing to study the modes on failure and the effects of overdriving the pump on the failure modes. From investigating a number of failed units, two modes of failure were established as the most common. The first mode is inlet metering valve actuation failure due to failures in actuation solenoid coil and second is the limp home mode bypass valve leaking. The limp home mode valve connects the low-pressure inlet to the high-pressure outlet of the pump and remains closed as long as there is a higher pressure on the high-pressure side. It is designed to flow in the case of an hpfp failure. On older units, this valve starts leaking from high pressure to the low-pressure side preventing the hpfp from being able to build full pressure in the rails. The valve relies on rubber elements to seal under normal operation and we infer that prolonged use of E85 affecting the rubber is the main culprit behind this mode of failure. We did find cracked bellows as well but we estimate it to be very rare since only one out of more than 20 failed pumps were affected by this. We also analyzed the oil out of high mileage units and they showed very little metal content and physical examination of the swash plate, the springs and pistons proved that these elements are designed to last and had very little wear. In short, most failure modes on the hpfp unit are modes that are not affected by over spinning the pump in any way.
