[GMAs]

Well of course the way to do it is outlined in the service manual....but, we have our ways too... smile..

Ok.. your going after the rear strainer... and you need to over haul it... what to do...

FIRST... we need to remove the rear cover off the airframe... yep its so much easier to remove it that way than to fight for hours on end trying to get the safety wire back in... correctly without getting a universal jointed hand...

The cover were after is the center one that is below the engine their are rows of screws (dome heads) that come off each side as well as the back bottom of the outlet ring... once removed the engine is hanging in air... kinda like... and you can get to the rear deck which makes up the wheel well...

SECOND... once their.. you will see the two bolts and their safety wire that hold the gas strainer to the rear bulk head of the wheel well... cut the safety wire.. but, do not remove the bolts as yet...

THIRD... go to the manual gear door extension and open the rear doors... those of you that don't have them... well you get to feel around till you find the gas strainer...

FORTH... shut the gas off to the rear engine if you haven't.. and extingish all open flame or spark making materials as you are going to have some fuel leak out and on the floor... also have a pan and a rag to keep yourself dry... and catch the gas with...

FIFTH.... go to the rear and with can in hand... open the fuel drain for the strainer... should be about a quart of fuel come out.. as it will also drain the lines with the fuel shut off...

SIX... go back under and remove the cotter pin from the plunger... for the pull cable... and then take both of the fuel lines off... again being careful that you don't get fuel on you skin for long... keep lots of ventalation or open air.. and make sure you post a sign keeping all visitors out of the area... so that you don't get a chance for a spark or fire... some mechanics will wait a reasonable time after opening the fuel lines for the residual fuel to evaporate.... but, we find that if you take care and keep things grounded you can proceed on with your operation...

SEVENTH... once the fuel lines and fuel overboard drain is removed and free away from the strainer... go up to the back again.. and remove the two bolts that hold it in... carefuly watching for washers and not letting the strainer drop...


That is the removal process to install.. you do the reverse except for the final is safetying the bolt heads with safety wire...


Ok now for the removal of the cup and other items... which we covered in the previous part... we are down to the top of the housing and the drain pipe and plunger...

Here you will notice that the plunger has a spring keeping it down... pretty stiff one at that... so what we do is go over to the drill box and find a 6 to 8 inch drill bit that will fit into the two holes that make up the drain tube down at the bottom... as it is threaded on to the top housing which also holds the screen in place.. so the tube will come off just below the screen...

Now come the vise or a second person... that can hold a large cresent wrench... and keep tension on the plunger....

So here is what we want to do... we want to make sure that when we put the dirll ALL THE WAY THRU the two holes... it make a kind of T Bar handle... equal distrubution on the drain tube...

But, wait... not as easy as that huh.... their seems to be something in the way... and not allowing the drill to slide through... yep its the plunger... and we don't want to mess it up if we can help it... providing that the thing didn't leak.. we want to keep the rubber tip...(if you mess it up.. its has to be replaced as a complete plunger)... oh what to do...

Well.... we have someone put a piece of safety wire with a loop or another drill thru the holes that are at the top of the plunger... where we took the tab kotter pin and keeper off of... now we will have two T pins... one to pull the plunger up and the other to unscrew the drain tube... wow and you thought two hands were always going to do it... not in this case.. unless you place the housing in a vice.. so that you can have control of the othe two items...

So here we go... to remove the plunger and tube... we pull the plunger up.. way up.. past the two holes in the tube... and while maintaing this position we put the other drill bit thru the holes at the bottom where the plunger use to be... and while not letting go... twist the tube by using the drill bit that just fit inside the holes...

Now if everything is working right you should be able to remove the drain tube... while still maintaing the postion of the plunger... its kinda improtant to do that because if you release your pressure... you will flatten the end of the plunger rubber tip... and render it as junk... they only cost about 60 bucks... so if you have the buck... let go.. otherwise hold on... to it while the drill is in the area of where it comes down thru... so that you don't mess it up...

Once the tube is removed... you can let go of the upper drill or safety wire.. and the plunger and spring will come clear of the housing... that is if some bimbo hasn't bent the two ears on the top of the plunger ... they should be the same outside diamater as the shaft... and not bent outwards...

Once the shaft is clear.. we now have to go after the little O ring at the top of the housing... this one is not user frendly... and doesn't like to come out... or go in... smile... but, with a little picking you can get it to come out... and to put the new one in... lots of engine oil again... however don't use the plunger shaft to push it down... the back of the drill shaft seems to work better so long as its not twisted when it goes in...

Now we trun or attention to the plunger... here we want to use a stone to take off any sharp areas of the split at the top... look at the rubber tip and make sure its not getting that cracked up look... if everything seems OK... and the mechanic is happy... (yes this is a mechanics thing and not a pilot thingiee)... then you can start to put it back togeather... first the plunger and spring... along with its washers... again lots of oil on the shaft where it is going past the new O ring in the top of the housing... and once thru put your small drill thru the holes in the top split part.. to keep it from coming back down...

Now put the new gasket for under the screen... and screen which has been cleaned and checked... along with the inlet alu tube to make sure that its not corroded....

Ok once the gasket and screen are in place... we pull the plunger rod back again and thread the drain tube back on by hand.... then we can release the pressure on the plunger and let it seat on the bottom of the tube for a min... then with a mighty thrust.. we pull the plunger back up out of the way... place the drill thru the two holes and tighten everything up.. making sure that the gasket, screen and plunger are all in position frimly tighten the drain tube....with the t handle made from the drill and the tube...

Remove the drill bit from the tube and slowly release the plunger so it seats down into the tube bottom... past where the drill bit was used to tighten it... it should work smoothly... and all the other pieces should be in place ....

One word about he drain tube inspection.... check the cessna service bull.. or go back and look at the pictures that we posted on the other web site... I think you can still see them... as the tube is made of Mag metal.. it will corrode first... and the threads as well as the small section will and can strech... so pay attention here to the condition of the tube... if too long your cup will not seat properly... and allow gas to get out and air to enter... so we have found.. and no matter how tight you tighten the nut which holds it togeather... you ain't going to stop the leak... it is made for a specific length.. and if it looks bad in the thread area or around the taper section... my advise it to replace...

I would put the rest of the rear strainer back togeather on the bench... all but, the final torque on the nut that holds it togeather and the safety wire.. which I have put thru the top hole and given a couple of twist to....

Take the assembly back down and install.. making sure to use lots of engine oil on any threads and fittings... and follow the directions in the service manual and suggestions that we posted in the other previous on servicing them.. and safetying.... along with re-fueling them back up... and checkig for leaks... and no you can't take the tube off while its in the plane... as you can't get the plunger up high enough with the cable attached... smile... so don't even try....

Simple huh..... maybe we should have one at a meeting so you can see how to take them apart and put them back togeather again... once you see how .. its real simple... just don't let the plunger drop on the drill or try and twist the tube off with it at the bottom... as it will runin the rubber tip... for sure...

Hope this helps.... GMAs....