wombat

cctsurf: I'm in agreement with you that each person should make their own decision. Unfortunately, I find that your anecdotal evidence is unconvincing. What I do find compelling is the fact that they have not run their exhausts on a dynamometer in comparison to a stock exhausts in order to generate a statistically significant set of test results which would be extremely useful to their sales and marketing department. They have a single result where with the stock exhaust the engine was producing 83% power to begin with and their exhaust still produced less than 100% power. I do think that they are producing a quality product and their ideas are good, but I don't think that the exhausts are really producing a 10+% performance gain. I think that the gain that we do get with the exhaust is exaggerated by the placebo effect. Just like all of the speed mods with speed gains posted on them, the fuel burn savings of LOP ops and an EI and the Powerflow... If I took all of these at face value I would expect a 30MPH speed increase at 3GPH less.... That would put me 170KTAS on 7 GPH. Hank: Yes, that was my muffler and exhaust headers. Everything but the tailpipe.

I just went through my annual and decided not to go with a powerflow exhaust. I figured that a full replacement of my existing exhaust was about $1,700 but the Powerflow was about $4,600 and I would need to save 500 extra gallons of avgas before that was worth it. While I expect that there is some improvement in performance, I don't think it's as much as their advertisements lead you to believe. (FYI, a 0 knot speed increase can also be stated as "Top speed capability improved by as much as 6.5 knots at 11,500 feet")

I recently had a fuel gauge issue that is similar to your issue with the right gauge. I sent it out to Kelly Instruments, who does quite a few repairs. They said that it was a non-fixable fault inside the gauge itself. My suspicion is that it is a short somewhere inside the gauge, perhaps part of the coil that physically moves the needle. I'm planning on getting my old gauge and tearing it apart if I can to see what's going on. My left gauge is what is broken, so maybe we can work together and create a single working gauge cluster.

The shop my plane is at is a MSC.

And are they both out of 1967 model year planes?

Are they both the same 22-169-071 part?

Can either of you give me the serial number of the plane these came out of? My mechanic isn't finding a schematic that makes sense to him for these gauges.

Do I need the shunt if I'm replacing the 22-166-010? I'm all for each of you talking each other down on price.

Thanks for thinking of me, Mooniac15u. I've got a line on one of these already from another use here, I'm just waiting to confirm that I can use it. The one I am replacing is a 22-166-010, and the two differences are: Mounting brackets I'm confident we can make it work, a few rivets and some grinding and I should be in business. The ammeter on the 22-169-071 goes from -60 to +60 and on the 22-166-010 it goes from 0 to +60 This may be a problem, my mechanic is going to look at the schematics to see if he can make it work. I really like the idea of being able to swap the individual instruments out, which you can't do on the 22-166-010.

So I've found a Garwin 22-169-07 available from a user here, and the two differences between the two that I can find now are: The brackets are different. I don't think this is a big deal, I should be able to make something work with this. The ammeter on the new one has a -60 to +60 range and my existing one is from 0 to +60. Has anyone tried using this before? I don't mind if it just never registers negative amps, but it does need to read the positive amps correctly. Does anyone have schematics of how they are wired in? Bob: Yup, I remember stopping by and chatting with you. Is the $652 for the full Mitchell gauge cluster or is that just for the digital aerospace fuel gauges only?

I my home shop sent the cluster in to Kelly Aerospace, who said it was not repairable. I called LASAR and they pointed me back to Kelly Aerospace. I PM'd dcrogers about the one with the bad ammeter already but have not heard back yet. I have now PM'd n74795 as well. greghermans had posted last fall about parting a plane out, so I PM'd him too. N601RX, this is the set that is combined into one unit, as seen here. I don't think that your slide-in will work for me. Don: From talking with the folks at Kelly, if they have a 22-166-010 with the fuel gauge working they can try to swap them out, but it's not guaranteed. Are you thinking of the models where each instrument is actually a separate unit or do you have knowledge that swapping the gauges out of the guts of the single-unit Garwin is actually a highly successful operation? Mine is not the ones like Brian has in his plane as seen here.

So the shop that did a bench test on my gauge cluster said that the left fuel gauge is totally dead and nobody can do a repair on it. The symptom is that if the power is on, I've read through several of the previous threads on this and there is a lot of rumor and hearsay about who is willing to do repairs; has anyone had one repaired recently? Does anyone have a working one for sale?

My annual is still in progress, it's been a doozy so far. The only unresolved issue is the fuel gauge. They sent it out to another shop in New Jersey to test it and they said it was totally dead and they couldn't repair it. There are serviceable used ones available which will have basically a $0 install cost, which is a big savings over a new digital system. Does anyone know of any shops that might do a repair or does anyone have a serviceable used one?

I'm also looking at the CGR-30P; it's smaller and looks like it'll fit better. I guess it depends on what I can do with my existing gauges.

Thanks, I'll call them. I'm kind of looking forward to having a new engine monitor, but $3500+ will buy a LOT of avgas. 890 gallons at Chehalis, WA. That's nearly 100 hours of flight time. More, if I have a good engine monitor and can run LOP... Hmmm....

I'm doing all of the 'known cost' issues first, including overhauling the mags. They are sending the exhaust out to a welding shop that they are familiar with and at worst case I'll end up with a new non-powerflow exhaust. The one thing that is unresolved is that my left fuel quantity indicator seems to have failed. There doesn't seem to be a repair option for the gauges any more but I can replace the cluster for about $900. My plane is grounded until I get this fixed and I have several weeks before I can even think about going flying, so time is not critical. I'm thinking that if it's going to cost that much, I might as well get a full engine monitor and replace them all and as such I'm looking at the JPI EDM 900 or EDM 930. The 900 can be had for about $3200 plus about 40 hours to install. The 930 can be had for about $5000 plus about 40 hours to install. Does anyone know what the differences are between them? John: It's fun that there are few enough of these planes that we can talk about being close in serial numbers. The ADF wasn't working and has been removed, which is what I wanted anyway. I did my IFR training in planes that had them and while they do work and are a fun experiment these days, I don't intend to ever fly a NDB approach.

carusoam: The flap is pointing toward the tail. Maybe in flight it would be pushed back down by airflow, but I don't want to take off with the flap up to find out. It usually comes up just a little bit, but one night it came up to 90 degrees and wouldn't stay down very well. It was frosty and very cold which may have been part of the cause. I'll probably keep my eyes out for a cheap used cap. Since the problem seems to be just that the flap itself is worn, I can probably mill one myself out of aluminum if I get desperate. If I do that I'll post about it here with my experience, and will assist others in producing their own part. jetdriven: I've done the silicone spray thing a couple of times and it's helped, but I was hoping to find a more long-term solution. Ideally one that doesn't involve replacing the starter, as someone else had suggested in a different post. Silicone spray is cheap. Starters are expensive. About the mixture/idle, the way you explain it makes it easy to see that they are related. I'll make sure it's right after the annual. Since I'm not an A&P I didn't want to try to do these myself. And I tried to PM you but I think your storage quota is full. The shop said they'd give me an antenna for free, but thanks anyway. It's not low profile but the price is right and I don't think I'll pick up that much more speed. Jim: It's just an antenna. Maybe should I just toss the plane and get an Ovation instead? Do you throw the baby out with the bath water very often or only with other people's budgets? No offense, but I think your solution is overkill. Gary: I agree that fixing issues as they come up is ideal, but since the MSC is 200 miles away and I work nearly every day they are open, getting the plane down there for a minor issue is a huge hassle. As I build up 'free ride' credit with my fellow pilots I can probably do that a little more often, but unless I have someone to give me a ride it's at least a half day event just to get the plane to them, and another half day to get it back. They have found a couple of other issues in the annual that I'm thinking about in addition to some minor stuff: The muffler is cracked. Should I have it welded, replaced, or maybe get a Powerflow exhaust? Both magnetos are over 1000 hours since last overhaul. Should I have them overhauled or treat this as condition based maintenance? Rear wing spar is cracked at flap actuator bracket. I'm not surprised and several folks have talked about this here. It's about $1,200 to get the kit and fix it. Painful but I think it's worth it. They tried lubricating the prop cable but it didn't help, so I'm now looking at a replacement for about $330. Not a huge deal and worth it. The big one is that the LH fuel quantity indicator gauge seems to be INOP. Can those be replaced individually? Is there anyone that repairs them? (Keystone doesn't) Are there many available on the open market? I'm considering getting a JPI to replace all the various engine instruments if this turns into too big of a hassle. Anyone have any opinions on this? (Boy, asking a bunch of Mooney pilots of they have opinions.... Dangerous)

I had a list of things that I wanted to look at before we even started: Starter bendix doesn't always engage Ram air light inop My propeller control is really hard to move, particularly when the engine is cold. Throttle idle adjustment incorrect, engine dies if throttle pulled all the way out Idle mixture adjustment incorrect, engine rise of 150RPM or more when leaning starting at 1000 RPM Gaps and cracks in engine baffles My left fuel tank cap has had the locking lever pop up a couple of times and it does not want to stay all the way down. LED Landing light intercom noise. (It may be because the power for it is routed right along the alternator line) The ELT Antenna broke off; it's just a stub now. Repair left fuel tank gauge / sensor INOP Check ailerons / flaps / rigging for true as aircraft tends to roll left, particularly with the flaps extended Remove the rest of the pink fiberglass insulation and and replace as necessary and completely comply with SB-208. Remove ADF from panel and replace with empty slot cover. Consider applying corrosion-X or similar. During the first part of the inspection we found that there is a crack in the exhaust. I was thinking of a powerflow exhaust, but if it's $300 to repair and re-install the existing one Vs. $4900 for the powerflow, plus a 6-12 week delay, I'll save my money and buy more avgas. But so far things are going well!

I had the same issue this summer. Bought the new drop-in replacement from Weldon and everything has been peachy since then. Still have the leaking Dukes pump around, don't know what to do with it. Hate to throw it away. Not worth selling as far as I can tell.

Awesome, I bet you'll love your plane. I bought my M20E earlier this year and am really happy with it.

How 'firm' should the push/pull on the prop control be? On my E, I have to use both hands when cycling it during the run-up. It's easily adjustable using the vernier while in flight but when pushing the vernier release in and just pulling the control out it's extremely stiff. Does anyone know what the lubrication schedule (if any) is for that cable? I would think that it's probably something like graphite down the cable where I can or perhaps silicone.

I was thinking of taping some cling wrap to the door frame and putting a bead or silicone around the door then closing it until it sets. Does anyone have any experience or feedback on this sort of solution? I don't want to put anything in there that will put more pressure on the hinges or latch. What I've been doing in the meantime is after I get in cruise, putting some charts up up against the edge of the door frame and letting the vacuum suck the paper up and stick it to the door. It's kind of funny flying along with papers stuck up to the door frame.

Minor update on my plane: I got the antenna off no problem and I think the plane looks a lot better. Sprayed some silicone lube in the starter and after that it was 100% for the 10 or 12 times I tried it. It was about 50% before. It's going into the shop tomorrow afternoon and I'm going to have them look at the rigging to see if it is all OK. If they can't see anything I'll probably leave it for the annual and have an actual Mooney shop take a look.

I was out and about the other day and shortly after take-off I suddenly got a lot of static on the intercom, bad enough I would have trouble hearing anyone on the radio. I noticed that it was affected by me moving around sometimes. It took about 3 minutes of fidgeting before I identified that the end of my cable to connect the phone to the intercom so I can listen to music was under the Johnson bar. Was worried I was looking at an expensive electrical problem.