- Dec 29, 2008
- 806
OK, so our mechanical lift pump on our Perkins Ranger 6-135 diesel had been leaking into the bilge for a few months. For those unfamiliar, the mechanical lift pump resides on the side of the engine, and has a short little lever that you can manually pump with your finger to pull fuel from the tank and push it up to the injector pump - assuming your finger doesn't wear out first. When air gets into the fuel line on many diesels, either from a loose connection, removing the line to do maintenance, changing a fuel filter, or running out of fuel, many diesels require you to pressurize the fuel lines all the way to the injectors and bleed the air from the system before the engine will start and run again. The mechanical lift pump provides one laborious way of doing this. An electric fuel pump is another. When the engine is running, the mechanical lift pump is driven by a lever which protrudes into the side of the engine to be driven by a cam, providing the pressure to the system while the engine is running.
So, last week while I was running briefly the engine on the mooring the pump finally gave up the ghost and started spraying lots of fuel onto the side of the engine, and apparently little into the injector pump, and the engine quit (I should add here that our bilge is dry, and I completely removed all fuel so we would not be at risk of a "spill" should the bilge pumps have occasion to run in the future). I had previously ordered a new pump, but when it arrived and I prepared to install it, I discovered that our pump has four bolts to hold it to the engine block, and the new one only had two. So, now I had a two-bolt pump that was no use to me, and still had the leak. I was having little luck finding a four-bolt pump online, but eventually contacted Tradewinds Power in Miami, who found the four-bolt pump and ordered if for me from England. So, I received the new four-bolt pump much quicker than I expected, and of course, the shipping was more than the cost of the pump.
It took 2 1/2 hours to remove the old pump. The hard part was reaching the bolts on the back side of the pump, next to the starter. The other challenge, of course, is that the generator is mounted about three inches from the side of the engine, and of course you need about three elbows on your left arm in order to get a wrench on the pump from where you are sitting or laying in the doorway to the engine room.
I applied a little gasket goo to the gasket and stuck it to the new pump, and placed one of the bolts into a hole to prepare to mount it. Here is the tricky part - you have to line up the pump lever in the hole in the block, line up the bolt holes, and screw the bolt into the first bolthole on the block. All with your left hand - and of course, without being able to see the work, since you can either look at the pump or reach the pump, but not at the same time, unless you have an arm on your forehead. And of course, the way your elbow and wrist bend, you can't hold the pump in place while turning the bolt, let alone get the bolt started in the hole.
I've concluded that what is really needed are two arms on the left side, each with at least two elbows, an preferably with an additional thumb and forefinger on the back of at least one of the hands. Plus, an eyeball in the palm would be handy.
It took another 3 1/2 hours to finish installing the new pump, and after doing a one-arm half push-up for 6 hours while reaching between the engine and generator, I had nothing left. I had to return the next day to attach the fuel line, bleed the system and start the engine - in all, another hour.
Before I have to do this again, I'm going to look into getting a second right arm grafted onto my left side.
So, last week while I was running briefly the engine on the mooring the pump finally gave up the ghost and started spraying lots of fuel onto the side of the engine, and apparently little into the injector pump, and the engine quit (I should add here that our bilge is dry, and I completely removed all fuel so we would not be at risk of a "spill" should the bilge pumps have occasion to run in the future). I had previously ordered a new pump, but when it arrived and I prepared to install it, I discovered that our pump has four bolts to hold it to the engine block, and the new one only had two. So, now I had a two-bolt pump that was no use to me, and still had the leak. I was having little luck finding a four-bolt pump online, but eventually contacted Tradewinds Power in Miami, who found the four-bolt pump and ordered if for me from England. So, I received the new four-bolt pump much quicker than I expected, and of course, the shipping was more than the cost of the pump.
It took 2 1/2 hours to remove the old pump. The hard part was reaching the bolts on the back side of the pump, next to the starter. The other challenge, of course, is that the generator is mounted about three inches from the side of the engine, and of course you need about three elbows on your left arm in order to get a wrench on the pump from where you are sitting or laying in the doorway to the engine room.
I applied a little gasket goo to the gasket and stuck it to the new pump, and placed one of the bolts into a hole to prepare to mount it. Here is the tricky part - you have to line up the pump lever in the hole in the block, line up the bolt holes, and screw the bolt into the first bolthole on the block. All with your left hand - and of course, without being able to see the work, since you can either look at the pump or reach the pump, but not at the same time, unless you have an arm on your forehead. And of course, the way your elbow and wrist bend, you can't hold the pump in place while turning the bolt, let alone get the bolt started in the hole.
I've concluded that what is really needed are two arms on the left side, each with at least two elbows, an preferably with an additional thumb and forefinger on the back of at least one of the hands. Plus, an eyeball in the palm would be handy.
It took another 3 1/2 hours to finish installing the new pump, and after doing a one-arm half push-up for 6 hours while reaching between the engine and generator, I had nothing left. I had to return the next day to attach the fuel line, bleed the system and start the engine - in all, another hour.
Before I have to do this again, I'm going to look into getting a second right arm grafted onto my left side.
