Fuel pump installation

[cposer]

How does one hold the fuel pump plunger up to install a new fuel pump on an IO-360. Littl bugger just won’t stay up. RV-7A so not much room behind the engine.

 

[RBR]

Dental floss

The procedure is searchable here on the forum. The dental floss trick worked for me.

 

[MacCool]

How does one hold the fuel pump plunger up to install a new fuel pump on an IO-360. Littl bugger just won’t stay up. RV-7A so not much room behind the engine.

Some people use a dab of grease to hold the plunger rod up while fitting the pump body back on the engine. Some use safety wire to hold the pump lever arm down then snip and remove the wire after getting a few turns on the bolts. Some say that the job is infinitely easier if the left mag is removed. In my case, the safety wire thing is what worked. It's a difficult job. Tight quarters back there.

 

[N184DA]

Dental floss/waxed string (for wire bundles),
And remove left mag.
Removing the mag does two things:
1) Easier access
2) Visual conformation that the arm/plunger are seated correctly

 

[tthrew]

I replaced my fuel pump while I had the mag out for inspection. With the mag out, I had a helper hold the fuel pump rod up with his fingers. Worked great.

 

[Desert Rat]

I've seen all sorts of hillbilly solutions for this. The simplest and most repeatable is to pull the left mag and hold it up with your finger through the hole.

 

[rmarshall234]

The Zen of aircraft maintenance

A philosophical response but works well with all difficult tasks: make yourself as comfortable as possible first. Used to work with an old time IA who in my words would “feather his bed” before a difficult task. The 10 minutes he took to make sure he was comfortable and had everything needed at-hand, paid huge dividends. He was also the guy whistling while we were all cussing and his work never needed to be done over again.