A320 wiper motor fuselage o-ring
 

Totally general advice from other fields, not aircraft specific so check manual before considering using any of this:
Suspect you probably have tried some of these already.

1: Warm rubber/whatever stretches a bit easier.
2: Pre stretch it and slip it on before it fully recovers, only works on some material.
3: Lubrication can help, if allowed. Soapy water is one standard, silicone or other appropriate lube if it wants to be lubed anyway.
4: Create a (very mild taper) cone shim from thin plastic to help get it on the shaft. Some types of clear plastic packaging works well, the type that ends up cutting you as you get your new knife out of the package.
5: Double check if the O ring goes on the shaft or inside a housing first when installing.

and last but not least, having felt very "clever" after finally discovering the problem:

6: Make sure you are installing it from the correct end! Usually not an issue but once did have a shaft with one side a bit larger than the other with an o-ring grove in the middle.

A genuine question from an Airbus pilot: Don’t Airbus provide comprehensive instructions?

And special tooling if required?

I am assuming this aircraft is in normal airline service, and therefore subject to approved maintenance; or is it a museum exhibit or something?

I would also be interested in what the manual has to say, point taken on special tooling so my "cone" suggestion is probably out. Hate to think what a sheet of thin plastic would cost as an AirBus tool :)

In an ideal world the instructions would be comprehensive and easily followed exactly matching the actual parts.
Where "reality" creeps in is that the the instructions need to assume a certain level of skill/knowledge, as an extreme example they will not cover how to use a torque wrench every time a torque spec is listed.
They also are subject mistakes and omissions, especially in areas that are infrequently used hence not often field verified.

In the OP question it is possible the instructions simply state "install O ring on shaft" with no further hints.

Hmmm, be interesting to know.

Or maybe Airbus manuals are like Haynes manuals* ?



*Haynes manuals were used by amateur and semi-pro car mechanics in the UK, and they explain how to remove and replace all the components of a given car. Now we have youtube and the web. You bought a Haynes manual for each type of car that you owned so you could do the maintenance. However, they sometimes make a real production of certain jobs, and involve unnecessary extra complication: They were technically right, but the poor guy, (e.g. me), laying under a car on the driveway in the rain - instead of in a nice big garage with a four post lift and all the right tools - had to be creative and find other ways to do the job.

Any special tooling required?

A tall ladder might help.

You have not spent much time lying under cars hitting them with hammers?

I have never worked on aircraft but here is an example of something that might not be detailed in a car manual.

Cars and boats have things like this, I expect aircraft do too. It can be the very devil to get the pin through. The end of the pin is often exactly square (since it would be more expensive to grind a taper) or if not new they can be mushroomed slightly by miss-handling.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1541d65336.png


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/s...heI5h&usqp=CAc
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...397nk1Z7-pA6gQ
30 seconds on with a bench grinder to taper the end very slightly and it slips in a treat.


End shown below with clear taper - OUTSIDE of the loaded area of the pin.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...GE6T4K0wpJGWEg

I have no idea if a Licensed aircraft mechanic is allowed to make such a modification but I would expect so. I would think that they need work experience and not simply paper exams to qualify. I have seen many examples of both Haynes style and Manufacturers workshop manuals for cars and I have NEVER seen one suggest the trick above.

I used it only last summer on a boat - it turned a twice yearly 20 minute struggle with hammers and screwdrivers and ropes and winches to get the damn forestay back on (12 ton yacht) into a 10 second business with no swearing, sweating or chaffed knuckles.

The coin of course has another side - a forklift is not the same as an engine cradle. The trick is not to go too far.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americ...nes_Flight_191

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...a191_ohare.jpg

.......erm, maybe try reading post #5 ? (the last bit) :)

PS, I have also done my fair share of mast stepping and rigging :ok:

Haynes manuals also provided a useful oil-marked log of work done on the vehicle by the owner. If buying a 2nd-hand car, you would ask the owner if he had the Haynes manual. You could then flip through and identify exactly what work he had done (or attempted) by identifying which pages were covered in oily, greasy, gritty paw-prints.

Ha ha ! quite so. Bless them.

Also, jimjim1: I don’t believe in using hammers when working on mechanicals - something is very wrong if it won’t go, and needs further investigation before hitting it with a hammer. The only problem I have had with clevis pins when rigging yachts is dropping the bl**dy pin overboard into the mud or water ! I haven’t seen a mushroomed pin, but as I say, I don’t use hammers. :ok:

Hanyes don't seem to have anything for the 320, but they've got one for the 380:


Also, one for the 747, 737 and 707.