Earl

Just to clarify again, I have had a few small spots with very minor leakage. A couple of rivets about the size of dimes and around one of my sumps but nothing major. A&P surmised that since I left the tanks mostly empty for a week that some of the already weakened sealant finally gave up. Could be that or for hard landings or a combination of the two.

OK, here's my current strategy. Am going to fly up to RMG tomorrow and have Joey look into the tank and check the leaks and give me a no BS opinion about the condition of the sealant and the need for a reseal. If he thinks its patchable I will get it patched and hope for the best recognizing it may not last or other leaks could show up. If he thinks it should be resealed I will pursue that option expeditiously. Thanks to everyone on Mooneyspace and with the resealant companies for their input and advice. Will keep you posted on what he finds tomorrow.

Quote: Cris Last year at the time I did the pre buy (Jan.) & purchased my 99' M20S it had some leaks which the seller agreed to patch. Unfortunately he wanted the guy who had done the repair to do it again less than a year and just 7 hrs latter. I elected to have my local MSC do it at a higher cost but I did not have to fly the A/C 600 nm back to the sellers mechanic pay for airfare etc. Anyway had I known that this was the 3rd repair I might have done something differant. I had the tanks patched and so far so good. The previous repair was just shoddy. It depends in large part on who is doing the work. I've been told it also depends on how one lands the A/C. In the long bodies dropping it in can cause a leak or so I am told.

Quote: N601RX I think that what Joey was saying was that the plane would not be leaking when you pick it up, but he could not promise that it would not start back leaking on the way back home. I would ask him is he could try to determine the general condition of the sealent by looking through the filler or even removing one of the toplates and make a decision based on that. If the general condition is good, then a patch seems much more reasonable than a reseal. If the general condition apears bad, then your money would be better spent on a strip and seal.

Quote: N4352H I say go to Joey...might cost you $1,000...max...if it is more sit down with him and discuss your other options. Trust me...most Mooney A&P's run from tank work, so it wouldn't be like Cole is out to take you for a ride. Joey is reputable.

Quote: Hank I patched my right tank, got two years out of it. Whether or not it holds depends largely upon the condition of the sealant that the patch will overlap. My original sealant was in poor shape, the leak reappeared in short order and intensified.

OK, so here is the latest. Pulled the panels and checked the fuel sending units. Dry as a bone. Removed about 15 gallons of fuel and the leaking stopped so the hole must be part way down. Have spoken to a number of reseal shops and to Joey Cole and here are my options: 1. Take it to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow (Wet-Wingologists) that can take it in right away for a complete reseal. Out of service for about a month but has the longest warranty (7 years) and is mid-priced. 2. Take it to Venice to Florida Flight Maintenance for a reseal but they sounded backed up so it is probably out of service 6 weeks. Cost a little lower with a 6 year warranty. 3. Wait until late summer to take it Weep No More which means either not use the plane or only fly with 20 gallons in my right tank, neither of which appeals to me. Warranty shorter and cost a little higher but very highly recommended. 4. Take it to Joey for a patch that he believes will work but obviously can make no guarantees. He did imply he would not charge me if he couldn't stop the leak but I can't see how he could do that so it would probably cost me $1K-$2K and then I might still need to have it resealed (if not today then in a year, 2 years or 5 years). All the reseal shop prices were comparable and I know that would be a valuable fix when resale time comes. But if I can spend $1k-$2k with Joey and it gets me five years would that be worth it? Decisions....decisions.......

Quote: N601RX 1st be sure it isn't leaking around the outboard fuel sender. By slowly draining the tanks and determining at what level it stops leaking will give you a good idea of where the leak is. Assuming this leak just started all at once and is a drip, I would think that it can be repaired pretty easily and the repair will last.

Quote: Skywarrior Earl - I don't believe Don M. is willing to guarantee tank patches. Nor would anyone else. A complete reseal is a different story. Highly recommend Weep No More. It started out as Bruce Jaeger's business. They have a good product, and a good process, and they give a damn. If you know Bruce, 'nuff said.

Quote: jetdriven It ought to be significantly less. 8K is over 100 hours of labor. Does it really take 100 hours to find your leak?

OK, just heard from Don Maxwell and they don't do reseals anymore but do patch and repair. However, the cost for him to patch and repair both tanks (which he recommends) was not significantly less than a complete reseal. We are draining the tank in stages to see if we can figure out where the leak is so I can at least get it to one of the shops. This is really not much fun.......

Quote: fantom My 2 cents.... If you speak to people who reseal tanks or (heaven forbid) install bladders....guess what they will want to do. Call around, and either find someone locally who has lots of experience patching, or fill up the other wing, and the leaking wing 3/4 since the leak is on the outboard side, and beg Maxwell for a patch job. He's had lots of experience and success doing it. Of course, if you have nine grand burning a hole in your pocket

Quote: allsmiles Have you considered Don Maxwell? You may not need a complete strip and reseal. Often times the actual location of the leak is not where you see it dripping. I'd at least give him a call. He is an expert in evaluating and detecting leaks.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff Willmar also has a new process that's working really well, but they're up in MN.

Quote: jetdriven It will fly on one tank, I drained mine completely empty on the R side and ferried it to get filled up so I could calibrate my tank stick.

My A&P called and he said he spoke to wetwingologists in Ft. Lauderdale with a couple of things I did not know. First of all, he asked about whether the tank had been sitting dry. I just came from a long trip and knew I was going out again so I had them wait to top it off. He said even a week without fuel could do it. Is that right? I never knew that I should top it off after every flight. Secondly, he quoted a price of $8,400 for both tanks being resealed with a 7-year warranty. I am still waiting to hear from a couple of other shops about the need for and cost of a complete reseal. I also have asked about ferrying on one tank or having a patch done so it could be flown. I'm just not comfortable flying with a stready drip like that. My A&P is also going to partially drain the tank to see if the leak is up high.

Quote: jetdriven You might be a candidate for a patch job with an experienced wet wing guy. Reseal it in a couple years.

Quote: 201Pilot Is it a slow drip....a drop every 30 seconds or less...a steady drip, or is it a steady trickle? The amount of flow would determine if you should attempt to fly to a wet wingologist or bite the bullet for an attempt to spot treat the leak before going for a complete srtip and re-seal. You might as well strip and reseal both sides, the existing sealant is probably of the same vintage. If you have extended range tanks installed, it will, of course, cost more. Good luck.

I know its like death and taxes but my 86 252 has sprung a fuel leak. Got to the airport this morning expecting to see the plane on the line ready to go. Line guys said they wanted to show me a puddle under the plane before they moved it. Was leaking from a weep hole in the belly. My A&P on the field came over and pulled the panel and we traced the leak to the outboard portion of the wing tank. Was really hoping it was a leaking fuel line or the fuel selector or something less dramatic. Looks like I am headed toward one of the wet wingologists. So here are my questions: 1. Who is the closest shop to Atlanta, GA that is reasonable and does high quality work? 2. Can I ferry the airplane with only fuel in one side? I usually switch tanks every 10-15 gallons or so and have never flown with one side full and the other side empty. 3. Should I just suck it up and get both sides redone? I would much rather use the funds for avionics upgrades but I also know the other side leaking is inevitable and am I just asking for more downtime. 4. How much should I expect it to cost and how long will it take? I fly my plane on business and really hate to lose it for a while. Having said that, I am heading to Europe on vacation in June so I won't be able to use it much that month anyway.

Quote: davewilson Ehscott and john. Please be assured that my post on beechtalk, re: risktaker, was NOT intended to be malicious or arrogant. Yes, It could have been better stated.

I actually learned about this from beechtalk.com and the heading for the post was Risk Taker dies in Mooney. You know, it really made me think that sometimes we are our own worst enemy in general aviation when people post things like that. Kind of always hits me the wrong way because when you get to a point in your flying where you are thinking it can't happen to me you are looking for trouble. I don't think the post was malicious but I do think it could have been better stated.

Have had that system for several years now and I find it very useful. On a number of occasions something has popped up on my 696 and I called ATC and asked if they saw it too. Always confirmed it was there. My only complaint (besides the box on the glareshield) is when you are around an airport everyone that has their transponder on causes a ding, even when they are on the ground. Not a big deal as I am looking around like crazy when I am around an airport anyway.

In order to replace OEM gauges you would need to install the 930. I have the 730 with my OEM still there and operating and never or rarely look at them (except fuel flow).

I looked into adding the 297 to my Mooney 252 and as others have pointed out the cost for the unit is not the problem. It is the new altimiter you have to add. Brings the total cost to ~$15K which is too much in my opinion. Having said that, I fly a lot of SPIFR and being able to dial in an altitude and rate of ascent/descent would be a big workload management tool. Still have to monitor its progress but would reduce workload. The feature will be a must have on my next plane.

I own a 252 and when I have more than 6.5 quarts it spits it out the breather tube but I still get 10-12 hours per quart and has in the 300 hours I have on the plane. But that oil is never on the front gear but does get on the back part of the gear door where the breather tube discharges. Oil on the front gear would make me very nervous and I would have it checked by an A&P as soon as possible