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some sort of fuel leak 1964 C


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I will be calling my MSC on this tomorrow but I wanted to share to see if anyone else has had this.  I put the plane away after a couple of hours of flying yesterday and saw a small dark blue avgas drop on the hangar floor.  Opened the cowling to find the attached pictures.  

I cleaned off the fuel line and turned the electric pump on and there is no leak.  Not even evidence of a pin hole.  Other than the blue stain on the fuel line and also on top of the lower cowling piece I cannot duplicate.  Probably needs the engine running to supply more pressure or volume.

Just thought I would ask.  I am AOG for the time being......

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Leak found. It was a ferrule and nut on the electric fuel pump that connects it to the fuel selector. To my knowledge this was last touched about 4 years ago when the pump was replaced. 

My last few flights the fuel flow has been much higher than normal   Not sure if this is the reason but it’s a start.

 

 

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Great follow-up Jim!

Expect the loose ferrule leak to be two directional...

When the engine is not running, fuel leaks out...

When the engine is running, air runs in...

With air running in, the FF will appear to be higher... it’s not really, the extra air is being counted as fuel, but is being separated out by the carb bowl...

If the fuel was leaking while flying, you would be smelling it pretty readily, the blue stains would be lighter and spread everywhere... yours were nicely deposited and allowed to run and drip slowly while evaporating, getting nice and dark...

clean up the stains, and tighten the ferrule... if the FF returns to normal, you probably won’t see that stain again...

Check the torque spec on the ferrule....

Wait a minute...

Check the plumbing bits on that... there may be a one time use type ferrule in there... re-using it may have caused the leak... it may require cutting off a piece of tube, get a new ferrule, torque the nut properly kind of thing...

Check in with your mechanic for additional details...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

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8 hours ago, carusoam said:

Great follow-up Jim!

Expect the loose ferrule leak to be two directional...

When the engine is not running, fuel leaks out...

When the engine is running, air runs in...

With air running in, the FF will appear to be higher... it’s not really, the extra air is being counted as fuel, but is being separated out by the carb bowl...

If the fuel was leaking while flying, you would be smelling it pretty readily, the blue stains would be lighter and spread everywhere... yours were nicely deposited and allowed to run and drip slowly while evaporating, getting nice and dark...

clean up the stains, and tighten the ferrule... if the FF returns to normal, you probably won’t see that stain again...

Check the torque spec on the ferrule....

Wait a minute...

Check the plumbing bits on that... there may be a one time use type ferrule in there... re-using it may have caused the leak... it may require cutting off a piece of tube, get a new ferrule, torque the nut properly kind of thing...

Check in with your mechanic for additional details...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

I am on the road earning mooney Mx $$. I have not seen the repair but was told they used all new parts and may have even installed a new fuel line. It is only about 2 feet and totally accessible. 

Your reasoningg for the higher FF makes sense. I was getting FF at times around 12 GPH when it should have been under 10. 

So glad to have the JPI 900. So glad to have a CO monitor.

Next step is to earn enough money to have these in a plane where I can open the cowling prior to every leg. 

 

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