rblauson Posted March 13, 2011 Report Posted March 13, 2011 Mooney compratiates. You have always helped and offered solid advice/info. on a variety of issues I have had with my 77' M20J. So I write you seeking advice. My airplane just came out of annual. I know the mechanic that worked on it. Solid guy, good skills, Mooney experience. I think my problem is connected with this story. He notices an elbow joint valve with bad threads connected to my oil cooler. He replaces it during annual. I test fly the bird and complain about a bad smell I did not smell before annual as soon as I open the heat push pull knob. He removes the cowling and there is a fair amount of oil around the oil cooler area but not on the other side near the muffler/shroud etc. He replaces the elbow joint and suspects a crack in the oil cooler. Thats gets replaced too. Then I ask him to remove all the excess oil around the engine, he rewashes the engine.He removes the muffler and cleans it, he replaces the scat tubing that leads into the airplane with new stuff. Off I go to fly and this time its a different smell, almost sour, hard to explain but smells like residual oil. Can anyone offer suggestions as to what they think might be causing this now? I dont know what he used to clean up the muffler. That might explain it except the smell was different once he replaced the oil cooler and re washed the engine and replaced the scat tubing. It really smells, I do not think the smell is deminishing either. I have flown a few short flights since this and the smell might be getting a little less strong but in no way is it gone. Should I have him reclean the muffler or anything to do with it that might be the culprit? Is cleaning the muffler shroud even possible if oil had gotten into, or on it? I am very weak in this area and Im not sure what to ask him to do. He seems willing to assist but unsure where the smell is eminatiing from. Thank you for any advice on the matter. Cheers, Mark N201SL
carusoam Posted March 16, 2011 Report Posted March 16, 2011 Mark, One thing I would get after annual (on an M20C) was an odd oily smell from the cabin heat. After the first annual, I departed climbed up to pattern altitude, opened the cabin vent and heat and got a puff of whitish smoke and the smell of burning oil. It came out the defroster holes also. There was a slight delay between opening the heat and getting the smoke, but get to the ground is what I had in mind... Turns out, that the smoke and smell began to clear on my way back into the pattern. IF it were a blaze, I couldn't get there fast enough. Degreaser used to clean the engine and its parts were an annual event. The A&P had inspected the muff for cracks and holes and cleaned things up while he was in there. Scared at first, then unhappy second for having to breath vaporized degreaser... Does this sound familiar? Best regards, -a-
rblauson Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Posted March 17, 2011 Hey A Sounds like you had a little scare there involving your situation with the smell etc. Not fun at all. I would also have been worried. In my situation there is no smoke and as weird as it sounds the Scat tubing itself was replaced and the smell smells like the interior of the lining of the scat tubing? its weird. my smell isnt going away, but my engine is clean, there is no oil on or near the muffler shroud and im baffled as to what it really is.
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