Head Pump Access

[JLR]

For the first time in 20 years, my local mechanic said he could not fix something. In doing routine maintenance, I asked him to change the discharge stator on the master GM head pump. Well, it is located beneath a hatch outboard of my starboard engine. No room to take off the hose and likely no room therefore to even remove the pump. Anyone have any idea how to get to this pump? The boat is a '96 74 CPMY.

 

[Chasemmc]

Mine is the same way and I need to rebuild the stator as well.
My plan was to:

1. Remove the hoses at the connection point to pump. If they won't come off, cut them.
2. Dismount the pump and remove
3. Cut a much large access hatch at the raw water sea cock so that a normal human being can work on it.
4. Install new hose if necessary
5. New Hatch Cover for the larger opening.
6. Remount rebuilt pump
7. Reattach hoses.

In general, they really don't give you much room to maintain anything with the small hatches spread all over. Any time you save by not cutting in a larger access hatch is burned up by a factor of 10x with the extra time trying to perform the repair in a small space. God help you if you go to the work and have a leak or something, then its back to square one.

Let the mechanic cut a larger access hatch.

 

[JLR]

That is one option but I also need to trace the discharge line from the pump to the head looking for a belly. There seems to be no way to do that, as well.