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It's becoming a true comedy

First, the good news.

The second nosewheel is good and has been installed. That part is now done.

The over-rich fuel mixture has been corrected. However, another issue has cropped up and it's verging on the ridiculous.

Here is my understanding of everything. At some point, Preston received a call from someone at One Stop Aviation, the shop which performed the overhaul of my engine. He informed Preston that the fuel pump on the engine was not actually overhauled, even though doing so was included in the quote. He wanted to know if Preston wanted him to ship a new fuel pump, or remove that item from the cost. Preston recommended getting the new fuel pump, even though the existing one was only a couple of years old. It had been replaced by the previous owner, along with the electric fuel pump. Preston felt that it was a good idea to include the fuel pump in the overall baseline of the motor so that everything is starting out "fresh" so to speak.

The new fuel pump arrived. However, there was a problem in that the fuel pump and the carburetor are physically interfering with each other. In short, they don't fit together. And here's where it gets really bizarre. I knew that One Stop had sent out the carburetor to another shop for overhaul. As I understand it, that shop, which is located in Florida, determined that the carburetor they received was the wrong model for my engine. So, instead of overhauling the carburetor they were given, they unilaterally decided to send back a different carburetor (presumably one they had overhauled and had on hand) which they believed to be the "correct" model. What is also interesting is that the existing carburetor had been modified by having a portion filed down, presumably so that the fuel pump would fit without issue.

I have questions:

  1. Why did the carb shop think it was their job to decide what the correct carburetor was, instead of overhauling the one they were given?
  2. Because Preston and his crew had the engine running with the old fuel pump, does that mean that there were no fitment issues with that fuel pump?
  3. If they did fit fine, what's the difference between the old fuel pump and the new one?
  4. If they didn't fit, how were they able to run the engine? Or is the fitment issue so minor that both can be mounted securely and work, despite being in contact?

I've done some research with the help of a friend and have found what I think are the right part numbers for both the carburetor and fuel pump. One possible issue is that the illustrated parts catalog (IPC) for the Musketeer/Sport/Sundowner line of aircraft doesn't include any information about the fact that my plane is one of the few that were upgraded with a bigger engine. If you go solely by the aircraft serial number, the IPC says that my plane still has an O-320 engine and not an O-360. Fortunately, I can "assume" for the sake of the IPC that my plane is a C23 Sundowner and get the correct part numbers for the engine and attached accessories.

We determined that the correct fuel pump part number is LW16335, which is a Lycoming part number. I had Alex out at the shop check for the part number they received and it is 163359501. Both have "16335" in them so it appears they are a match, and that the actual fuel pump is just a different manufacturer. I'd like to know what the previous fuel pump's part number is. If it's the same, or is the Lycoming number, then how was it able to fit with the new carburetor if it did?

Unfortunately, by the time I was able to compile this information, the carburetor had already been removed. One Stop paid for the carb to be shipped overnight to the carb shop in Florida and it's already gone. I don't know what they intend to do with it, unless they're going to overhaul the old carb and send that back. I don't know why that carb won't work, given that it's been working fine on that engine for decades. That would be my preference, anyway.

This conversation happened last Friday. Preston, Alex, and crew won't be back in the shop until Tuesday so I intend to call them back on that day to get an update and ask them the above questions. I also had to reschedule my bi-annual flight review because I was still sick yesterday morning so I'll be doing that Wednesday morning. I'll probably stop by the shop after that and talk with folks about this more.

And this illness is a whole 'nother problem. I'm still not over it, even though it's been ten days now since the symptoms started. It's likely that I contracted RSV, which stands for "respiratory syncytial virus". It's most severe in infants but adults can catch it as well. In adults it's one of the variety of viruses that cause the "common cold" though for me this has been closer to the flu in terms of symptoms and longevity. There are reports that RSV is spreading across the country, compounded by the early arrival of the flu season and the ongoing COVID pandemic.

I'm hoping that I'll recover enough in the next couple of days to do my BFR on Wednesday. If not, I may postpone the flying part, but still do the ground school portion with an instructor. If I don't have my BFR by the time its due, I won't be able to fly my plane at all until I get it done. I was hoping to do my BFR in my plane but that's now impossible.


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