What Mechanical Faliures have you experienced in Mooney?

[chrisk]

I've had several failures, but none were very exciting.

• Vacuum pump (twice)
• Vacuum regulator (damaged during windscreen replacement, discovered in flight)
• Garmin GPS would loose the GPS  signal (Turned out to be the spot tracker causing interference, kind of exciting on a LPV approach.  A super easy fix, get rid of the   spot tracker.)
• Garmin GPS failed (electrical burning smell in the plane is never fun when in the air.  It only happen 1000 miles from home)
• Oil pressure gauge jumped up.  (Grounding issue with the pressure sensor)  This I would describe as a Mooney Specific failure.
• Glare shield lights fuse is blown.  Mooney specific failure
• Primer line broken at solder joint where it connects to the injector.  This made it really hard to start the plane and could have caused a fire.
• Mag overhaul left not correct, high altitude misfire (My mechanic though I was crazy when I made him send the mags back to the overhaul shop.  And the mag shop admitted an error.  Re-built for free.
• Stuck mike.   The connector screws can become loose, so they move and can cause a short.  Maybe this is Mooney specific.  
• Gear Warning horn quit.  Needed a new piezoelectric buzzer. --A well known Mooney issue.  The piezoelectric  buzzers get old and quit.  
• Electric boost pump began to leak.   Had to replace with a new  pump.

 

I've never had an issue that would remotely be called a safety of flight issue.  And with all the issues, only a few minor ones were Mooney specific.    And as someone else said.  It's an airplane.  There is always something wrong.

 

[HRM]

8 minutes ago, chrisk said:

I've never had an issue that would remotely be called a safety of flight issue.

Ditto.

[ArtVandelay]

I have had several AOG issues:

Battery died on a hot start.

Clogged drain tube caused flooding during start.

Flat tire, after a good landing.

Starter Bendix gear would not engage.

Clogged fuel injector, after maintenance.

 

The last two happened away from home.

 

A few in air:

Alternator failure at night (field wire broke).

Vacuum failed.

Momentarily lost a cylinder after annual, in IMC, clogged injector.

A couple of instrument problems, both JPI and original instruments, lose/bad connections.

[kpaul]

In the air:

Vac Pump fail in VMC, I have standby by vac system.

Ship EGT fail, I have a JPM EDI 700

Instrument light rheostat failed, happened to be on a day into night flight, good thing I carry multiple flashlights.

On the ground:

Starter failed, in Indiana on my way to Oshkosh

 

All in all, none were serious, and the starter on the road was the biggest pain.  But an overnighted part and a hard working A&P/IA had me up and running in time to get into Maddison for the Mooney Caravan arrival into OSH the following morning.

[Andy95W]

I had a vacuum pump failure about 1.5 years ago in VMC.

I happened to be actually looking at the Attitude Indicator when the pump failed and the horizon flagged.  My takeaway is to not look at the AI anymore in case that is what caused the pump to fail.

Those vacuum pumps are too delicate to take any chances with.  

[RobertGary1]

On 2/1/2018 at 5:31 AM, M016576 said:

Declaring an emergency to ATC gets you two things- priority handling and priority assistance.  If you have some sort of a malfunction, major or not, and you choose not to declare, know that you’re essentially accepting that ATC will handle your aircraft just like any other, fully functioning aircraft- they would be under no obligation to provide any priority to you.  Once you say the word “emergency,” all that changes.

It costs a pilot nothing to declare an emergency and the priority handling you receive may save your life, or the lives of other people/pilots.  Some people assume that they will be investigated automatically if they declare, that’s not the case.

 

Not disagreeing with the sentiment but there is more to it afterwards. In many districts (including mine) a full FSDO investigation always follows a declaration. They'll review your logs to ensure all the sign offs are there and double check your BFR, medical, etc. It's not too big of a hassle but dealing with the FAA isn't "fun". Fortunately I've only had to do it a couple times, most recently after a total engine failure. The tower is required to submit a report to the FSDO when you declare.

 

-Robert

[wishboneash]

• Rough running engine on take off run (one cylinder lost compression). Aborted take off. This was at dusk making it even more exciting!
• Flaps stuck down (limit switch issue)
• Intermittent charging due to frayed wire to alternator field.

[Raptor05121]

1.) Landing light failure (no biggie- my CFI was steadfast on doing initial PPL nighttime training with half landings without one. Ironically, as I was coming back to land, he was doing nighttime training with ANOTHER student at the same airport when I noticed the bulb was blown so the irony of the situation was funny over UNICOM.)

2.) Lost alternator right before Irma hit. All of S. Fla was evacuating north. I went on a hourly pleasure cruise south to get some lunch and my voltage dropped from 14 to 11 about 10 mins away from the Class D. I landed at a small airport and shut it down, tried to start up and the prop didnt even move. Got a jump, and ferried it home with a handheld.

3.) Governor seal blew on run-up and went to coarse pitch. Shut it down and towed it back to the hangar. (its weird seeing the prop in full coarse pitch when stopped).

4.) Gradually increasing crack in exhaust. Noticed it when the carb heat check on downwind was enough to almost starve the engine when it was sucking in its own fumes.

5.) Starter stuck on a dead spot at my CFIs house. Luckily I was moving to that airport a week later so I just left it.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Raptor05121