What the plate behind my fuel pump

[SvenTheGoose]

Picked up a new to me engine and am cleaning it up getting it ready to put into my boat and when I pulled the fuel pump I found this plate (see pictures) installed. Has anyone ever seen one before? Any idea on the purpose? It looks like it is blocking oil from getting to the fuel pump which I don't think is good. One of the reasons I was pulling the pump was that is looked a bit discolored compared to the rest of the engine and I suspect it was because it was getting to hot due to lack of oil in the lower part of the pump but maybe I am just making stuff up. The pump from my other engine is in better shape and I planned to use it instead but am not sure what to do with this plate.




Thanks!

[Dave Neptune]

What plate? I see a gasket, a pushrod end and the oil return galley hole.

Dave Neptune

[SvenTheGoose]

Interesting, I think on my other engine I could see the mechanism that moved the push rod but I that one is still on the boat so I don't have a direct comparison and maybe I am just not remembering correctly.

Would you expect to have some oil in the lower area of the pump? Maybe is it just dry from draining the oil before transport.

[Dave Neptune]

A little oil will get past the pushrod from it's lubrication against the cam and what little does runs back down the drain galley hole. It is very little oil, only a few drops!!!

Dave Neptune

[Al Schober]

That's for the mechanical fuel pump. The push rod rides on the cam and makes the pump work. The small hole is a fuel drain in case the pump diaphragm fails- drains fuel to the crankcase vs the bilge! Hopefully the owner will notice his oil level increasing!
To install an electric fuel pump, the push rod has to be removed and a cover plate installed to keep the oil inside the engine.