Engine driven mechanical fuel pump replaced about 6 flight hours ago as part of the 5 year rubber. PN 8933115
serial 22.0717
Low Fuel pressure warning light had been flickering on and off but the A&P said it was because of a fuel pulsation issue not low pressure…
On take off at about 700 agl I turned off the boost pump, and almost immideatly the fuel pressure warning light went on and the engine started to sputer and lost power. I turned the boost pump back on and the engine started to run normally again.
Had a local mechanic confirm it was the pump, he said the mechanical pump was indicating 0 psi. Which doesn’t make sense because the engine will run with only the mechanical pump and I don’t have gravity feed fuel system. Perhaps it was making a small amount of pressure but not enough to refill the carb floats at WOT.
The electric boost pump was making 1.5 psi approx.
Apparently there are a rash of defective mechanical fuel pumps lately. Heard of 3 failures recently and one fatality. This I’m not a fan of putting on a new Rotax fuel pump.
There was nothing wrong with my original fuel pump. Anyone see an issue putting it back on the engine? We would have to use the old fuel lines. The original pump has 450 hrs on it and is about 7 years old. Hard to tell the condition of the fuel lines because they have crimped on fire sleeve.
Feedback would be appreciated!
