Matronics Email Lists :: View topic

Matronics Email Lists
Web Forum Interface to the Matronics Email Lists

Get Email Distribution Too! FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register

Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in

Rebuilding Fuel Pump

Matronics Email Lists Forum Index -> Kolb-List

View previous topic :: View next topic

Author Message

Arty Trost

Joined: 25 May 2006
Posts: 205
Location: Sandy, Oregon

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:51 am Post subject: Rebuilding Fuel Pump

How often do you folks like to rebuild/replace your

fuel pump?  (I've got a 503 DCDI.) 

This was a topic at our last club meeting, and Roger

Hankins and I are also discussing it - so I thought

I'd throw it out to this list.



Arty Trost

Sandy, Oregon



www.LessonsFromTheEdge.com



"Life's a daring adventure or nothing"

                      Helen Keller



"I refuse to tip toe through life just to arrive safely at death."

- The Matronics Kolb-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kolb-List

John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:29 am Post subject: Rebuilding Fuel Pump

| How often do you folks like to rebuild/replace your

| fuel pump?

|

| Arty Trost



Arty:



I have an old Kubota tractor with a Mikuni impulse fuel pump just like 

the one you fly with.  It is about 30 years old and has about 3000 

hours on it.  It is still pumping, every time I crank the little 

Kubota.



Of course, the Kubota lives in a different world than the Mikuni on 

your Rotax.  It also pumps diesel and not gasoline.  If the Kubota 

quits, no sweat.



I can not remember how often I changed out or overhauled Mikuni fuel 

pumps back in the day when I was flying two strokes.  Every couple 

years or so.  They are extremely reliable.  Three parts:  Top half, 

diaphram, and bottom half.  About the only thing to wear out is the 

diaphram which also acts as the gasket.



How much does the overhaul kit cost?



Make sure it is genuine Mikuni.  LEAF was selling a kit many years ago 

that was not Mikuni.  I had a forced landing the first flight after I 

overhauled my fuel pump at the Flight Farm, Monterey, NY, 1989.  Put 

the old diaphram back in, flew to OSH, and home to Alabama.  BTW: 

LEAF grudeonly refunded my money for my fuel pump kit.



Don't think I answered your question.



john h

mkIII

- The Matronics Kolb-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kolb-List

_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

d-m-hague(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:43 am Post subject: Rebuilding Fuel Pump

At 01:29 PM 3/15/2007, John Hauck wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Make sure it is genuine Mikuni.  LEAF was selling a kit many years ago

that was not Mikuni.  I had a forced landing the first flight after I

overhauled my fuel pump...


	


The pumps are so cheap doesn't it just make more sense to replace the 

entire pump than to rebuild it?



OTOH... the previous owner of my US made a forced landing (fortunately on 

the airport, but he still broke a gear leg) when the brand new fuel pump 

he'd just installed failed.  Apparently it had been sitting on the shelf 

for some time, and the diaphragm had dried out.



He actually did pretty good considering it was about his third solo flight 

in any kind of airplane (he's got a lot of PPC and gyro time, and prefers 

the gyro, which is why he sold the US to me).



                                 -Dana

--

--

I started out with nothing. I still have most of it left.

- The Matronics Kolb-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kolb-List

boyter(at)mcsi.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:56 am Post subject: Rebuilding Fuel Pump

---

- The Matronics Kolb-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kolb-List

frank-margie(at)worldnet.
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: Rebuilding Fuel Pump

REF:

  

 > Arty



I rebuilt mine ever 100 hrs.  Had one last year fail  at 110 hrs. Glad I had 

a electric back-up.

Back in the snow mobile days  some of them would last for ever?



Wayne

-------------------------------------------------------

  

 I'd like to see a lot of input on this  question,  an impromptu poll of experiences/observations could provide some  good guidelines, if enuf people added to it.

  

 I rebuild at 2 years or 100 hrs max.  And John  Hauck is right on about using genuine Mikuni parts.  The rebuild kits are  cheap, and easy to install.

  

 I've seen a lot of pulse pump failures.  I  don't know why they seem to fail a lot more often on ultralights, but that's my  impression too.  I don't completely trust them, even when rebuilt often,  which is why I just added a Facet pump, in series, per Msr's Hauck/Pike and  others on this list.  (The grass strip I fly off of is not ultralight  friendly, lots of big trees all around, lots of pucker factor until one gets a  little altitude.)  I mount my pump with tie-wraps and rubber hose  standoffs, on the airframe (vs on the engine),  to try and reduce the  vibration level at the pump.  Also mount with the pulse line input on the  bottom, tilted down maybe 30 degrees, and I leave a "belly" in the pulse  line  below the pump.  Hopefully the tilt and belly will let any  residual fuel/oil run away from the diaphragm----I'm not convinced the little  weep hole in the pump/pump fitting is enuf to do the job on a 2 cycle.   Don't know how much my mounting methods help, but I personally have never had a  pump failure, and I don't much care to if I can help it.  (A friend went  down on take off from SunN'Fun a few years back,  and was real lucky to get  it down in the paved parking area off the end of the strip, without getting  hurt.)

  

 I believe a large % of powerplant failures in GA  are fuel system related, and I'd be willing to bet it's an even higher % in the  ultralight world.

  

 Frank Clyma

 Orange Park, FL

   [quote][b]

- The Matronics Kolb-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kolb-List

Display posts from previous:

	Matronics Email Lists Forum Index -> Kolb-List	All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

Jump to:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum