M20Kid

I finally got the wiring done correctly by calling Paul at Weep-No-More. I've had him reseal the tanks on my Mooney in the past and know he's an expert at Mooney fuel tanks and systems. His advice was straight forward and easy to follow. Now my gauge is working property. Thank you to all who helped make this happen. In short, the outer sender is installed as a ground and the wire from that sender to the inner must be attached around one of the isolaters so it doesn't get grounded, too. Pretty easy when you know what to do.

Thank you, Lee - that's exactly what I was hoping to find!

Mike, the older planes needed more gas. Mine is supposed to be accurate down to 1.5 gallons, which is considered unusable. I wouldn't plan to fly with such a low fuel level, but I'm doing the gauge calibration and you only put in small amounts at a time. When the gauge didn't respond, I quit putting in gas. 37.5 gallons per side would be full in my plane.

Is that shop still doing interior work? I'd be interested in at least visiting with them to get a quote.

Thank you! That seems a logical place to start. We'll be at the hangar on Saturday trying to bring some life to this thing.

The fuel tanks were drained completely. After adding unusable fuel, the new gauge give a resistance reading. After adding fuel, that resistance level should increase - it doesn't. It reads as if the tanks are empty regardless of how much fuel is added. The outboard senders don't move until the tanks have over 25 gallons and right now there is only about 3 or 4 gallons in each side. The outboard senders could have a grounding or other issue, but their lack of motion could not be a factor with this small amount of gas.

The gauge shows output at about the level I would have expected based on previous attempts to calibrate the gauge, it just doesn't change as fuel is added. Both sides respond the same - flat. No new wiring was added; only original wires reattached after installation.

I spoke with Hector recently but he didn't offer much hope. Mine is in pretty poor condition with pieces that attach the headliner near the front windshield broken off. I've had a couple of shops, including Hector, tell me it's too far gone to repair.

I thought it should be pretty easy, as well. But my mechanic figured out how to do it wrong. I tried to calibrate a new gauge after having the senders overhauled and found the senders were not responding to fuel when added to the tank. Sigh ...

Thank you, Scott, those were my thoughts, too. Mine does have the eyeball vents. I guess I should call Vantage and ask them - they may just know.

The headliner in my M20K is in pretty bad shape. I've tried all the avenues I know to find a new one, but keep coming up empty handed. Vantage Plane Plastics has a headliner for a M20J that's the same year as mine and looks about the same. Does anyone know if this is actually interchangeable with mine for an M20K? Alternatively, does anyone know where I can get a headliner replacement actually made for my plane?

I just found the M20K electrical system schematics for M20K planes posted in the Download section. I downloaded that and sent it to my installer. If there's something easier to use, I would appreciate that, too.

I just got all 4 fuel senders overhauled for my M20K-231. My mechanic reinstalled them, but there appears to be a wiring issue. He doesn't have the wiring diagram and we putting it back together from memory; which appears to be flawed. Does anyone have the wiring diagram for the fuel system that they could send? Mine is a 1981 M20K-231, if it matters. Thank you in advance!

Did you fly through any clouds or rain? I find whenever I fly in visible moisture, the "smoking" is heavier and longer.

I have a Sidewinder for my M20K, but it has a 2-blade prop. I did find the guy who makes them to be knowledgeable. Have you checked with him to see if he's had any issues with your particular configuration in the past?

I was out flying for the past several days and didn't see the responses. Thank you for the assistance! I'll get this information to my installer and hopefully he can use it to get things working properly again.

I have an '81 M20K and I just installed this new fuel gauge https://www.aerospacelogic.com/engine-instruments/fuel-level/resistive-float/two-tank-fuel-level/ After installation, my "Low Fuel" lights are illuminated on the annunciator panel all the time regardless of the fuel level. My installer isn't sure why, but obviously the circuit is not getting what it needs. Does anyone know how the "Low Fuel" light is wired? And to what? I also need to send the fuel senders to Air Parts of Lock Haven to get them overhauled. They're not quite right and this new gauge wants pretty good information. Has anyone had that done before? I'm just checking to make sure it's work the time and money.

Thank you all - I'll look first for anything that has an inline fuse; that seems a reasonable place to begin. TMO - you're right, tracing it back from the main panel would be difficult and not a job I'm going to take on myself. Now finding a loose wire or blown fuse near the battery seems an easy enough task. Hmm ...

I have an '81 M20K and the clock suddenly stopped working when I changed the ships battery some time back. Assuming the death of the clock was unrelated to the ships battery I just left it alone. Talking to my mechanic, though, he brought up the point that the clock is hardwired to hot battery because it runs all the time. He thought maybe the wire that powers the clock may have come loose during the swap of the battery. Excited, I pulled the cover off the side of the plane to look for any loose wires around the battery. What did I find? Nothing that looked like a smoking gun. Can anyone help me identify the power lead for the clock? Where does it connect to in the mass of wires running to the battery?

Looks great! Like others I really like the beak up front - very classy. I'll look for you next time I'm in Sedona!

And the answer is - the prop seal needed to be replaced. Good call, carusoam!

I got the turbo back and was so excited to fly that I forgot all about posting here. The results are in and Gary Main at Main Turbo was spot on; the amount of contact between the compressor blades and the case was only responsible for half the pressure loss. When I took the plane back to 21k with the fresh turbo I only got half the lost pressure back. Still unsure where the leak is occurring but the pressure difference is small enough now that I don't want to throw large bundles of cash around to chase it. My mechanic thinks it may be lower compression as the engine wears - I have over 1500 hours on the engine and about 1000 hours on the cylinders so this could just be normal aging. Hmm ... At least the plane is flying again!

Here's a picture of the exhaust side of the turbocharger. Rubbing at the top is obvious and, not so obvious from the picture, the bottom gap is greater than usual. The sides appear normal. It appears the turbine wheel was pulled up or case was pulled down slightly causing minor contact. Again, Main Turbo said they were unsure if this was enough to slow it down and register the manifold pressure loss. We'll see in a few days when it comes out of annual.

I spoke with Merlyn about this issue and they said while it's a possible failure mode, it's not a common failure mode. They sent instructions on how to check the unit locally without sending it off to them. A simple procedure that is being done during the annual. I'll report back whatever I find.

I thought so, too, but my mechanic pointed out it's on the wrong side of the electric box. The rotor is coming from the left and the residue is on the right. Also cleaned it about 15 flight hours ago and it's back already.