Bought A Rotax 912is Engine New Fuel Pump Assembly Isn't Usable . What Would You Do?

[ADK-Flyer]

I got some bad news today about the fuel pump assembly that came with my Rotax 912is engine I bought a few months back and I'm not sure how to handle it. There is a bit more to this story and I feel I should share it for reference so bare with me. About 3 months ago I answered an ad on Barnstormers for a second hand but never run Rotax 912is engine which at the asking price was very appealing because I could have a 912is engine for less than the cost of a 912uls. I contacted the seller who turned out to be the sales manager for Murphy Aircraft in BC and I was given a story about a friend who purchased an engine for a Murphy Rebel he was building and because he had fallen ill with Parkinson's he would no longer be able to fly so they were helping him part his kit out.

I felt good about the fact that it was being handled by a reputable kit manufacturer and everything seemed to be good to go. I went ahead with the deal and paid for the engine at which point they removed it from the kit to prepare for shipping. At one point they sent me a picture of everything being crated with a caption like almost ready to ship or something. I was looking over everything laid out and noticed I didn't see the ECU so I asked about it because they come with the engine and cost almost $12,000.00 if you have to buy one. Keep in mind the listing clearly stated that the engine comes with everything like it would from Rotax and here is exactly what I was told " Included are these accessories: Complete wire harness & sensors for EFI, 2 electric fuel pumps, ring mount, airbox, AN oil fittings, oil tank, oil filter, oil pump, 2.43:1 reduction gearbox, overload clutch, electric starter & relay, water pump, expansion tank, all electrical connectors, and operator?s manual. Plus exhaust system, coolant radiator, oil cooler and oil can.". When I Brought up the ECU I was assured that it was in the crate as he personally had seen the person remove it and if it wasn't there when I got the crate they said they would ship it to me at their expense.

Well fast forward several weeks and the crate arrived and after inventorying the crate, low and behold no ECU so I contacted them and was told it doesn't make sense but we'll look into it. After several weeks of stressful back and forth they finally discovered the ECU was still mounted behind the panel in the Rebel kit removed it and prepared to ship it to me. The bad part was that they were asking me to pay $600.00 as they were willing to pay the $250.00 FedEx fee but refused to pay the insurance and customs fees. I complained about the fact that it wouldn't have cost me any extra if it would have been in the crate when I originally paid for everything to ship. I was told they were already giving me an amazing deal as they were giving me the ECU that costs $12,000 basically for free. This fact only came up after they learned about the value of the ECU from me when I was trying to get them to find it and apparently they were unaware that the ECU is included with the engine from Rotax; a fact that I had to educate them on. My brother wanted me to refuse to pay the $600 but at that point I had an engine and all components but no ECU so I kind of felt like they were holding it hostage so I just sent them the money and the ECU arrived a few days later.

Around that time I was checking for service bulletins on the engine to make sure everything was good and the only thing that came up that pertained to my specific serial number was a couple service bulletins for the fuel pump assembly. One was a fuel pump assembly leak check and one had to do with replacement of the fuel pumps which I misunderstood as the same SB. After looking in the engine log book I found that a leak test had been performed and signed off on by what looks to a be an A&P though the fuel pump is brand new and has no smell of fuel so I'm not sure how it was performed. Around this time I paid for a subscription to the Rotax Owners forum which was right on par for Rotax things because of course even a forum with the Rotax name on it costs money lol. I ended up asking a question about my fuel pumps and even posted a picture of the log book entry with the SB being signed off on and nobody responded so I thought I was good to go and haven't thought about it again.

Fast forward to today I finally got an answer to my question on the Rotax forum stating that my fuel pump assembly is in fact affected by the replacement SB and needs to be replaced. Rotax states the following reason: "Due to deviations in the manufacturing process of the electric fuel pump, a malfunction of the fuel supply may occur. Possible effects might include rough engine running, unusual engine operating behavior, and potential power reduction or engine stoppage." Rotax was apparently replacing them for free at one time but unfortunately that time has passed and because the previous owner never took advantage of this I will have to pay for it myself. I looked up the part number I was given for the kit and it costs $2,600.00 without tax and shipping to which I instantly thought are they made out of gold lol. I was also told I'll need the whole kit not individual pumps as the new fuel pumps Rotax is using are bigger and won't fit into the housing mine came in. I wrote an email to Murphy Aircraft explaining the situation and asking if they had any info about this and they basically just replied back that they had no knowledge of this and that they are sorry for my luck and understand my frustration but they didn't offer any solution. Sorry for the extremely long post but I've been kind of fuming and I'm basically venting. So what would everyone do? My option's seem to be just use it and possibly have a pump failure though I think it would be highly unlikely they would both fail at the same time, take legal action though I doubt I actually have any legal recourse so I'll probably get stuck buying a new fuel pump assembly if that is what I want or find a different less expensive fuel pump solution. I'm interested to see what others think about the situation. I'm planning on selling the new Rotax radiator, Setrab oil cooler and throttle assembly I got with the engine to try and recoup some money since I was told by Kitfox that the FWF I ordered comes with all those things so I cant use the ones I have.

It's kind of comical how so many things can pop up sometimes that could easily derail a project or take the wind from your sails. When I was dealing with the whole ECU debacle I definitely felt like I wasn't going to get it as it didn't seem like they thought it was a big deal at all and about as important as forgetting my fries at the drive through window. During that period of time I was definitely losing a lot sleep and feeling like I was taking a $12,000 loss which would have been terrible and quite frankly embarrassing. This situation is just one more kick to the groin after I thought I had put it behind me LOL. I don't plan on letting it slow me down and I plan to just keep building and know I'll figure it out.

Fuel pump.jpg

[jiott]

My personal opinion-I think charging you that $600 reflects poorly on Murphy because it was their mistake that caused the problem.
On the fuel pumps, I think you are stuck because it was your duty as a buyer of a "used" engine to check for all service bulletins and asb's that might affect your engine serial number. A seller normally wouldn't be expected to do this, and even if he said he did I wouldn't trust him. I would just suck it up and call it a hard lesson learned, and I would definitely order the new pump kit-you got a good deal to help offset it. I wouldn't think of flying with the old ones based on the Rotax warning.

[ADK-Flyer]

My personal opinion-I think charging you that $600 reflects poorly on Murphy because it was their mistake that caused the problem.
On the fuel pumps, I think you are stuck because it was your duty as a buyer of a "used" engine to check for all service bulletins and asb's that might affect your engine serial number. A seller normally wouldn't be expected to do this, and even if he said he did I wouldn't trust him. I would just suck it up and call it a hard lesson learned, and I would definitely order the new pump kit-you got a good deal to help offset it. I wouldn't think of flying with the old ones based on the Rotax warning.

I definitely agree that I'm going to have to replace the fuel pumps as even if I was daring enough to fly with them which I'm not I would never feel safe bringing a passenger or maybe someday selling it with the possible issue to someone else. I definitely should have done a better job looking into the service bulletins and ASB's. I had checked on all the major ones like the gearbox update and the oil squirter and knew I was clear on those. I unfortunately thought that because the leak check had been signed off on that meant I was good to go but missed that Rotax had later put out another ASB saying they needed to be replaced. It's great that Rotax is so diligent about getting the information out and trying to keep people safe but man every time a new service bulletin comes out I cringe LOL. Maybe I can get a car guy or something to buy the pumps for a race car build or something LOL.

[Lyndon]

You just replace the pumps I take it, not the assembly.
Lyndon

[ADK-Flyer]

You just replace the pumps I take it, not the assembly.
Lyndon

Unfortunately from what I was told on the Rotax-Owners page you cannot just replace the pumps because the new pumps Rotax is using are larger and won?t fit in the housing that I already have which is why the price goes up. This is what I was told by Rotax-Owner "Hi Jared,You are not looking at the latest ASB related to that specific fuel pump, refer to ASB-915 i A-008 / ASB-912 i-011 (see attached).

Rotax states the following reason: "Due to deviations in the manufacturing process of the electric fuel pump, a malfunction of the fuel supply may occur. Possible effects might include rough engine running, unusual engine operating behavior, and potential power reduction or engine stoppage."

Only the fuel pumps need to be replaced. However, the new fuel pumps P/N 889732 & 889731 are significantly larger and will not fit inside the existing stainless-steel housing.

If you want the best and most reliable fuel pump for your engine, then P/N 889732 (packaged) or P/N 889731 (individual) is the recommended option.

Otherwise, you would need to source an aftermarket fuel pump based on the parameters and specifications outlined in the ROTAX 912iS Installation Manual. However, keep in mind that doing so may violate regulations depending on the classification of your aircraft."

They went on to explain it a little deeper when someone else asked about the new pumps by saying. "These fuel pumps are significantly larger than yours and will not fit inside the stainless steel box. The reason we suggest these pumps over your current ones is due to their increased size, which allows for more fuel capacity within the pump itself. This additional fuel helps keep the pumps cooler, and we have received excellent feedback regarding their performance and reliability.

While they may be more expensive than your current pumps, if you need to replace them anyway, we believe the extra cost is well worth it to get the best option available.

That said, this is simply our recommendation and the choice is entirely up to you.

Hope this helps clarify things, but don?t hesitate to ask if you have any further questions! "

I've been looking around online for places that sell them to see what my options are but I'm guessing I'll have to get on the phone at some point but I'm not ready to dump the money on them yet. I can definitely mock up my project and even ground run on these pumps till I order the new ones I would assume. I just ordered my Firewall forward a couple weeks ago which is gonna cost $8,000 when it ships in the next 4 to 6 months so I cant really spend another $3,000 right now. Might have to do some overtime lol.

[Kitfox Pilot]

The last time I looked, edge performance had fuel pumps for their rotax engines for under 1000$. You might give them a call.

[ADK-Flyer]

The last time I looked, edge performance had fuel pumps for their rotax engines for under 1000$. You might give them a call.

Thanks I?ll look into it. Do I remember something from one of your videos about your engine upgrade where you said the fuel pumps that came were your 916 were quieter than the 915 you had? I wonder if that is due to the newer larger pumps Rotax is using now. Did you notice if the assembly including the stainless cover was also bigger?

[Kitfox Pilot]

Thanks I?ll look into it. Do I remember something from one of your videos about your engine upgrade where you said the fuel pumps that came were your 916 were quieter than the 915 you had? I wonder if that is due to the newer larger pumps Rotax is using now. Did you notice if the assembly including the stainless cover was also bigger?

Yes the fuel pumps are larger and are Bosch brand. I'd guess maybe Bosch knows how to build fuel pumps better??

Edit: the stainless cover no longer comes with the fuel pumps. Kitfox is making a direct replacement housing, it mounts where the 915 pumps were. In your case you can mount the pumps anywhere you want since you have not mounted and plumbed your plane yet.

[ADK-Flyer]

Yes the fuel pumps are larger and are Bosch brand. I'd guess maybe Bosch knows how to build fuel pumps better??

Thanks for that, the picture is extremely helpful. Was the mounting pattern the same? I believe the firewalls come pre drilled from Kitfox. I just looked at Edge Performance and their dual pump setup goes for $1,600 shipped. I'd have to look into compatibility but it's a possible option. The input and output out are on opposite ends so I'm not sure how much that would affect the install with the pre made hoses. Lots of research in my future. The newer Rotax assembly looks pretty stout. Thanks

[Kitfox Pilot]

Thanks for that the picture is extremely helpful. Was the mounting pattern the same? I believe the firewalls come pre drilled from Kitfox. I just looked at Edge Performance and their dual pump setup goes for $1,600 shipped. I?d have to look into compatibility but it?s a possible option. The input and output out are on opposite ends so I?m not sure how much that would affect the install with the pre made hoses. Lots of research in my future. The newer Rotax assembly looks pretty stout. Thanks

Yes they mount the same place on the fire wall, for just a little bit under half of what you paid for your engine...