Broken Exterior Overhead Vent Cable

[DualRatedFlyer]

Just landed back home from my beach trip to find the overhead exterior vent broken and laying in the aft position. Anyone had a similar failure? 

Is this an easy fix? Something tells me no..

[MARZ]

Many have had the same - check this thread - this was my journey......

 

 

[Yetti]

The ceiling panel comes down.  Replace the inner core wire.   Some people find the correct size piano wire..

[cbarnes403]

2 hours ago, DualRatedFlyer said:

Just landed back home from my beach trip to find the overhead exterior vent broken and laying in the aft position. Anyone had a similar failure? 

Is this an easy fix? Something tells me no..

That looks a lot like twisted safety wire.  I believe the replacement wire is .050

[jamesm]

Yep except mine broke where it attaches to the vent made a loud thud a real attention getter when we were flying. The weird thing is that my Brother was flying and had just close the cowl flaps exact same time when the cable broke for the roof vent.  It is a pita  to change at least for me.  I couldn't leave well enough a lone had  to fix  the stupid tinnerman nut replace most of the with nut plates .  A lot people say the  cable easy to find it Bowden cable it is every where,  I would  disagree. The one that I have  currently  installed is way too thick it works but a some point I should change it.

Good luck on your project.

 

James '67C

 

 

[carusoam]

Hey, you answered somebody else’s question...

What kind of filter material is that you got there?  Some kind of hog fur? Or something like that...

Couple of things you will find about this project...

1) Overall a pretty easy fix...

2) except the access comes from the ceiling side.  

3) While you are in there find the drain tube and make sure it is connected out the bottom of the plane... a 50year old tube will be in rough condition...

4) you get one chance to fix everything while you have the ceiling down...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[HRM]

14 hours ago, DualRatedFlyer said:

Is this an easy fix? Something tells me no..

LOL, nothing on a Mooney is an 'easy fix'. 

In a sort of mechano-masochistic way it is sort of fun though...

• MVP-50 Install
• Interior R&R
• Radio R&R (maybe this is the 'easy fix')
• Engine mounts R&R
• Jug R&R
• Exhaust system R&R
• Battery R&R
• Cowling seals R&R
• Seatbelts R&R

...all done under A&P/IA supervision (boy did they get some laughs).

[DualRatedFlyer]

7 hours ago, jamesm said:

Yep except mine broke where it attaches to the vent made a loud thud a real attention getter when we were flying. The weird thing is that my Brother was flying and had just close the cowl flaps exact same time when the cable broke for the roof vent.  It is a pita  to change at least for me.  I couldn't leave well enough a lone had  to fix  the stupid tinnerman nut replace most of the with nut plates .  A lot people say the  cable easy to find it Bowden cable it is every where,  I would  disagree. The one that I have  currently  installed is way too thick it works but a some point I should change it.

Good luck on your project.

 

James '67C

 

 

Interesting that you commented about a loud thud.  As soon as I started my descent I heard a loud bang that actually made me flinch.  Kind of like when you get a rock to the windshield going down the highway.  

[DualRatedFlyer]

15 hours ago, Mike Ropers said:

Many have had the same - check this thread - this was my journey......

 

 

Thanks Mike.  Did you happen to take any photos during the repair (back in 2011 ;)...?

[MARZ]

8 hours ago, carusoam said:

Hey, you answered somebody else’s question...

What kind of filter material is that you got there?  Some kind of hog fur? Or something like that...

Couple of things you will find about this project...

1) Overall a pretty easy fix...

2) except the access comes from the ceiling side.  

3) While you are in there find the drain tube and make sure it is connected out the bottom of the plane... a 50year old tube will be in rough condition...

4) you get one chance to fix everything while you have the ceiling down...

Best regards,

-a-

 

Also if memory serves theres a SB on the drain tube as well - seems it can be pinched as it goes between a rib and ceiling panel just above the baggage compartment. 

[MARZ]

1 hour ago, DualRatedFlyer said:

Thanks Mike.  Did you happen to take any photos during the repair (back in 2011 ;)...?

Just the couple I posted in that thread - sorry.

[St64]

Owned a M20E, same thing happened and was told a lawn mower throttle cable inner core works.

[DualRatedFlyer]

12 minutes ago, St64 said:

Owned a M20E, same thing happened and was told a lawn mower throttle cable inner core works.

@St64 Did you fix yours yourself?  Debating if I should have the shop do it since its now super hot and muggy in my hanger.  Dont really want to throw away the cash, but even with the instructions @Mike Ropers linked, I am not sure if I have the skills to get it done.

[St64]

I did not, it was close to annual so had our mechanic fix it. I had pulled the headliner off and at the time looked more involved than I or my partner wanted to get into. Used red duct tape to hold it shut until the annual, it matched the paint.

[jazztheglass]

I have plenty of the appropriate wire to fix it.  Message me if you need it

[DualRatedFlyer]

Thanks @jazztheglass, I plan on heading up to the hanger this weekend to start taking down the panel and see how far I can get before I get stuck.  If I am able to to get to it, and cant find anything at the hardware store to suffice, I will shoot you a message. 

What kind of wire is it, and where did you get it?

Thanks

[jazztheglass]

I will take a picture of the box tomorrow if I can get out to the hangar.  I got the specs from a previous thread on here but I can't seem to find it again.  My mechanic did tell me it is a little tricky to fix.  After having gone last summer without the air scoop and then opening up this spring it was literally a breath of fresh air.  Cheap air conditioning!

[jazztheglass]

Stainless steel .051" spring 302/304

 

I have extra if you need it  I bought in from Mcmaster-carr

[DualRatedFlyer]

9 hours ago, jazztheglass said:

Stainless steel .051" spring 302/304

 

I have extra if you need it  I bought in from Mcmaster-carr

Will send you a PM

[egarcia77035]

Common failure.  This happened to me 3 years ago.  The cable broke at the bend point on the vent flap.  Instead of replacing the cable I reconnected the cable to the flap and made certain the cable wasn't weaken when folded over.  The most difficult part of replacing the cable is properly sizing the length.  Sometimes the cable binds in the shealth, you can prevent this by making sure you file the end leaving no burrs.  The cable I purchased online and cost about 15 dollars.  Enough to do 4 airplanes.

[DualRatedFlyer]

Update

Got the headliner plastic dropped in the front and it was as big a pain as I thought it would be, primarily because its intertwined with the side panels and you have to balance it on the headrests while you try and unhook the electric from the stall horn, gear horn, lights, etc.  I may have heard a crack or two.

With the headliner down I was able to drop the plate that the control knob is connected to.  You can see in one of the photos how the cable snapped and the control end. 

I attempted to feed the cable back through, but its made out of flimsy stranded wire and bent before I could make it to the end. 

Going to try and lube up a new cable and see if I can feed it through. 

On a separate note, no wonder the air coming through the vent is so weak.  All around the plenum there are gaping cracks.  Has anyone gone through and sealed or taped these up?  Did it make a big difference?

Last question -- is there any reason for me to remove the rear headliner plastic as well?

[RobertGary1]

I made the mistake of using one size smaller piano wire and it broke within an hour of use. Makes a big difference.

BTW: The stuff you think is some strange debris in the vent system is actually hog hair that Mooney used to prevent rain from bring brought into the cabin.

 

-Robert

[Woodpile]

Thanks for putting in the note about hog hair. My vent is frozen in the down position and I have been reading here to figure out how to get after it. I was a bit disturbed today, wondering if there was any way some animal with that much hair could have gotten in. I was looking through the vents to see if I could lube the cable and found all this hair in there.

BTW  - I still have not figured out how the knobs are removed - I have a 1970 20F, but does not seem to have set screws. I guess the 7/16 nut is on top.

[N201MKTurbo]

1 hour ago, Woodpile said:

Thanks for putting in the note about hog hair. My vent is frozen in the down position and I have been reading here to figure out how to get after it. I was a bit disturbed today, wondering if there was any way some animal with that much hair could have gotten in. I was looking through the vents to see if I could lube the cable and found all this hair in there.

BTW  - I still have not figured out how the knobs are removed - I have a 1970 20F, but does not seem to have set screws. I guess the 7/16 nut is on top.

After you have the headliner down, pull down on the edge of the metal vent plate. You will be able to get an open end wrench in the gap and get it on the nut. Then hold the wrench and spin the vent plate around. You can get it to go past the stop pin.

[carusoam]

Ooooh that knob... not the control knob...?

-a-