eugene89us
Veteran Member
Good morning, everyone, I am not a fan of aftermarket mods, I already got burned installing an oil catch can on my BMW diesel which clogged and caused PCV system to block. Thankfully, it was a cheap trial, simple reversal of the catch can restored normal PCV flow and eliminated oil escape through turbo seals. 70,000 miles later, Bimmer still runs like a dream.
However, both my Bimmers are having an active recall for CP4 pump, and given my distrust in my dealer which screws up simple things like oil changes, I decided that if I am still running failure prone original CP4 on my TDI CKRA, then recalled BMW CP4 which is actually a new variant with beefed-up roller compared to ours, I should be fine with it. There is some metallurgy in the roller in BMW variant that caused the recall, likewise the only time it fails is with fuel contamination. The trouble is that you can go from fine to $10,000 in damage by unwittingly filling up your TDI with contaminated fuel. Whether accidental misfueling with petrol (unlikely with misfueling adapters these days, though you hear horror stories of fuel truck filling diesel well with gasoline) or water contamination can be enough to cause rollers to go unlubricated, which will create metal shavings, and the same contaminated fuel will then flow via metering valve into the injectors, permanently clogging them with metal debris. And then the dirt will move back to fuel tank at the same time. So now, you're replacing broken HPFP as well as 4 injectors, all fuel hoses (or spending lots of time washing them), as well as dropping and cleaning your fuel tank. Back in the day, there was tool made by 2Micron that basically separated the lubrication sectors from the metering sectors in CP4. You would have fuel reach metering pump directly from the OEM filter, while the plate would create second circuit where same incoming fuel would enter the lubrication parts of pump and then exit it back into the return line but would also contain in-line 10 micron filter. In case the contaminated fuel causes rollers to fail, the metal shavings would be filtered by the 10 micron filter. The only replacement that will need to happen is just the HPFP that failed (the bypass does not protect pump) but it will prevent all the major downstream damage. Here is a link to a video:
So, when I realized I really wanted the bypass prevention kit, 2Micron went out of business or at least stopped making them. I reached out to Whitbread Performance, who was doing CP3 changes but not doing the disaster plates about a year ago. Something changed their mind, I saw on Bimmerfest forum that they are testing the kit for BMW's N47 and N57 engines, so I checked their site and now see they have a kit out for CKRA engines. I am intrigued. We don't always have the best fuel in rural South, so it always concerns me about fuel quality. Doing this kit would likely help limit the amount of damage caused should HPFP fail. It is not as bulletproof as doing a full CP3 downgrade, but at least it protects fuel system from a major catastrophe with this kit.
TDI CP4 Metering Valve Bypass Kit – Whitbread Performance Innovations, LLC
So the question is, who is with me on this?
However, both my Bimmers are having an active recall for CP4 pump, and given my distrust in my dealer which screws up simple things like oil changes, I decided that if I am still running failure prone original CP4 on my TDI CKRA, then recalled BMW CP4 which is actually a new variant with beefed-up roller compared to ours, I should be fine with it. There is some metallurgy in the roller in BMW variant that caused the recall, likewise the only time it fails is with fuel contamination. The trouble is that you can go from fine to $10,000 in damage by unwittingly filling up your TDI with contaminated fuel. Whether accidental misfueling with petrol (unlikely with misfueling adapters these days, though you hear horror stories of fuel truck filling diesel well with gasoline) or water contamination can be enough to cause rollers to go unlubricated, which will create metal shavings, and the same contaminated fuel will then flow via metering valve into the injectors, permanently clogging them with metal debris. And then the dirt will move back to fuel tank at the same time. So now, you're replacing broken HPFP as well as 4 injectors, all fuel hoses (or spending lots of time washing them), as well as dropping and cleaning your fuel tank. Back in the day, there was tool made by 2Micron that basically separated the lubrication sectors from the metering sectors in CP4. You would have fuel reach metering pump directly from the OEM filter, while the plate would create second circuit where same incoming fuel would enter the lubrication parts of pump and then exit it back into the return line but would also contain in-line 10 micron filter. In case the contaminated fuel causes rollers to fail, the metal shavings would be filtered by the 10 micron filter. The only replacement that will need to happen is just the HPFP that failed (the bypass does not protect pump) but it will prevent all the major downstream damage. Here is a link to a video:
So, when I realized I really wanted the bypass prevention kit, 2Micron went out of business or at least stopped making them. I reached out to Whitbread Performance, who was doing CP3 changes but not doing the disaster plates about a year ago. Something changed their mind, I saw on Bimmerfest forum that they are testing the kit for BMW's N47 and N57 engines, so I checked their site and now see they have a kit out for CKRA engines. I am intrigued. We don't always have the best fuel in rural South, so it always concerns me about fuel quality. Doing this kit would likely help limit the amount of damage caused should HPFP fail. It is not as bulletproof as doing a full CP3 downgrade, but at least it protects fuel system from a major catastrophe with this kit.
TDI CP4 Metering Valve Bypass Kit – Whitbread Performance Innovations, LLC
So the question is, who is with me on this?
He asked me about my hardware issue too.
