Carpet replacement

[Htmlkid]

I’m replacing the carpet on the pilot side and I have two questions. What is the pull pin to the left of the fuel selection gauge and how do I remove it to take off the plastic cover to replace the carpet.

[flyboy0681]

I guess you haven't been draining the fuel before each flight.

[BrianWilkins]

Dude, that's your gascolator.  You need to get familiarized with it for safety reasons.

[Andy95W]

The wire should pry apart to get it off.  Be careful you don't tweak the shaft when you take it off.

You might consider replacing it with a split key ring that fits the indent in the plastic.  It will look nicer and make it easier to remove/install in the future.

[Jim Peace]

1 hour ago, Htmlkid said:

What is the pull pin to the left of the fuel selection gauge

Dude.....(my head turning left and right)

Edited April 23, 2020 by Jim Peace

[Marauder]

1 hour ago, flyboy0681 said:

I guess you haven't been draining the fuel before each flight.

To be fair to the original poster, he may have the ability to drain the sump from underneath. This is what I do instead of pulling the pin from above. 

[Marauder]

1 hour ago, Htmlkid said:

I’m replacing the carpet on the pilot side and I have two questions. What is the pull pin to the left of the fuel selection gauge and how do I remove it to take off the plastic cover to replace the carpet.

To remove the handle, you pull apart the ring by pulling on each side of the ring around the pin. The ring is a split ring. You just squeeze it back together again when you line up the ends into the pin's hole.

[Immelman]

The part the ring goes through screws on. As an alternative to whats posted above, if you don't want to bother with prying the ring open and closed:

Pull up on the ring (fuel will drain). Grasp the bottom with a pair of needle nose pliers. Unscrew ring. It is threaded onto the gascolator / fuel selector assembly.

 

I only found this out when the ring assembly started to unscrew itself...

Edited April 23, 2020 by Immelman

[Culver LFA]

I pull that ring before every flight but can’t believe that I’m trusting that fuel, or water, is actually coming out. I started doing it before preflight so I could at least see a wet stain on the ground (but who knows what is in it), also to confirm that it actually stopped leaking out.

The only time I really see a stream is during annual when the seat/carpet/interior are out and I can watch through the holes in the floor.

I like the idea of dumping from below but my drain fitting is offset from the plunger on the ring.  Do you guys that do this have a different gascolator?

Edited April 23, 2020 by Culver LFA

[Mooney1]

I am guessing you did not get a checkout?

[Mooneymite]

It's important to drain the sump, but it's also important to make sure the fuel stops dripping/draining when it is released.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Mooneymite

[DonMuncy]

You are supposed to have a plastic pan in your hangar to place in the appropriate spot under the plane. Then pull the ring in the plane. Check the pan to make sure you have only avgas with no water.

[Pete M]

Goes without saying, but dont start the plane over a puddle of fuel. Saw a c model catch fire at the gas pump in williston, fl a few years back.

I bet that carpet will come loose just by removing the plastic screws. 

[RLCarter]

Two questions.....

1) Are you the Owner/Pilot? Hopefully you are just doing the work, as others have said "It needs pulled every flight"

2) Why just replace the carpet on the Pilot side? Hope you have spare carpet that matches

[Htmlkid]

3 hours ago, RLCarter said:

Two questions.....

1) Are you the Owner/Pilot? Hopefully you are just doing the work, as others have said "It needs pulled every flight"

2) Why just replace the carpet on the Pilot side? Hope you have spare carpet that matches

I am the owner pilot and I have 15 hours of instruction in this plane. 5 from the previous owner who is a CFI and also 10 hours from a local CFI and neither mentioned doing this ever time I start the plane. It’s also no in any checklist I have. Where is it written this must be done before every flight and why? I do drain fuel from each wing prior to flying to check for water and after each refuel. 

[Ross Taylor]

15 minutes ago, Htmlkid said:

I am the owner pilot and I have 15 hours of instruction in this plane. 5 from the previous owner who is a CFI and also 10 hours from a local CFI and neither mentioned doing this ever time I start the plane. It’s also no in any checklist I have. Where is it written this must be done before every flight and why? I do drain fuel from each wing prior to flying to check for water and after each refuel. 

In your defense, my manual is pretty vague about the requirement to do this.  It describes the sump and how to use it, but it isn't in any of the checklists in that manual and even in the description it doesn't say "do this"... but you should start doing it every pre-flight.  Just make sure to push down on it, to make sure it closes.  I like the "do it before the walkaround" plan, so you can make sure you're not leaking fuel.

MooneySpace is a great place and you'll learn a lot here.  I'm a one-year owner of a Mooney (my second aircraft) and I am still learning here all the time.  

[carusoam]

Reasons to be an MSer...

1) The standard of POHs back in the day were terrible...

2) The procedures in the POH were terrible...

3) The logic they followed were terrible...

3.1) The sales guys back then were full of hope and wishful thinking... 

3.2) The marketing team was in charge of writing the manuals...

3.3) Just because these documents were terrible doesn’t mean they are OK to ignore...  they need to be updated periodically... 

 

Things we know today...

4) Sump both tanks... pretty obvious...

5) Pull the ring...  catch in a stainless pan you have under the plane...

6) flip the selector valve... pull the ring again...

7) Why would we do that?  If water got into the tanks, it will head for the gascolator...

8) Two tanks, two fuel lines, two pulls on the ring...

9) there isn’t much volume in the fuel lines... but plenty of volume in the gascolator...

10) Not draining the gascolator..? HTML is now smarter than the previous owner and his CFI...  

11) Now for my friend that pokes a metal fuel sampler up the drain hole... this works, but comes with a risk... the tip of the valve is glued in place...  be careful to not accidentally twist it off or some how cause it undue stress...

12) if the tip comes off... it was probably going to come off anyways..?  It’s going to be a long day...
 

13) Think about not emptying the gascolator... that device can hold a lot of water, dirt, and if unlucky rust bits... waiting for annual to pull the ring would be a bad idea...  you should see what is in there...

14) pull the ring early, so you can verify that the valve has closed again during the walk around...

15) you can fly in nice stable air with a gascolator half full of water... it will become challenging to keep the engine running when you get in the bumps and water starts to not be held in place by gravity...

16) About pulling through ring out... it is pretty easy to do... HTML’s pic looks like it has been done before... it is relatively soft metal and will open up when pull apart... be gentle with it, tools will scratch it up making it difficult when pulling with your finger...

What other knobs and buttons do you have?

Did you know the stall warning device is in-op when the master is off?   Something to remember when an off-field landing is going to be used...

Keep learning... 

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic, stuff I learned on MS... 

Best regards,

-a-

[carusoam]

Nice pic Culver!

For better visualization...

Expect it can hold about a half cup of unknown... 

I like to drain the unknowns from my fuel system whenever possible...

Best regards,

-a-

[Andy95W]

@Htmlkid- I've never seen a Mooney factory reference that says that sump was supposed to be drained every flight.  Maybe they changed the Manuals in the 1970's.  I don't drain mine every flight, far from it.  It's more of an every-once-in-a-while thing.  The rubber seal in that thing is a pain to replace and if you pull the ring too hard, you can damage the mechanism.

Besides, water is going to drain from the wing sumps first.  The one time I had water in my tank I definitely drained the sump and line.  Other than that time, I've never gotten water out of the gascolator. Anyway, not much liquid really comes out, unlike the stream you get from a high wing Cessna.

[MikeOH]

1 minute ago, Andy95W said:

@Htmlkid- I've never seen a Mooney factory reference that says that sump was supposed to be drained every flight.  Maybe they changed the Manuals in the 1970's.  I don't drain mine every flight, far from it.  It's more of an every-once-in-a-while thing.  The rubber seal in that thing is a pain to replace and if you pull the ring too hard, you can damage the mechanism.

Besides, water is going to drain from the wing sumps first.  The one time I had water in my tank I definitely drained the sump and line. Not much really comes out, unlike the stream you get from a high wing Cessna.

BINGO!

Exactly how I handle it.  It's probably about time for me to check the sump to make sure it still works, but since I've NEVER found water in the tanks I'm not about to start draining the sump before every flight!  As you say, IF I find water in the tanks I will most definitely be THEN draining the sump.

[RLCarter]

 

@Htmlkid @Andy95W @MikeOH Here is a snap shot from my 65' POH... Like @Culver LFA after my recent leak I now pull it first thing so I can verify it has stopped flowing fuel 

[Andy95W]

1 hour ago, RLCarter said:

 

@Htmlkid @Andy95W @MikeOH Here is a snap shot from my 65' POH... Like @Culver LFA after my recent leak I now pull it first thing so I can verify it has stopped flowing fuel 

 

I hate finding out I was wrong, but I'm glad to learn new things!  Thanks for posting the page- turns out I had overlooked it for years.  Perhaps I'll start draining it more often than I had been.  And I'll do it first thing, for the exact reason @RLCarter mentioned.

[RLCarter]

1 hour ago, Andy95W said:

I hate finding out I was wrong, but I'm glad to learn new things!  Thanks for posting the page- turns out I had overlooked it for years.  Perhaps I'll start draining it more often than I had been.  And I'll do it first thing, for the exact reason @RLCarter mentioned.

Wasn't out to prove anyone wrong, I've been working on my commercial ticket and my CFI had me compare my checklist (one I've modified over time) to what Mooney says. I generally drain all the sumps on the 1st flight of the day and anytime I take on fuel

[cliffy]

Cut the safety wire remove the bolt and inspect the screen inside is a 100hr/annual routine. 

The bolt has a revised torque setting lower than that originally speced as it goes into the aluminum body. 

As water can collect in there and NOT get drained regularly, things can rust up and break or clog. 

Hence the annual inspection and disassembly   :-)   Many times overlooked. 

Parts are available including the screen.

Edited April 25, 2020 by cliffy

[MikeOH]

20 hours ago, RLCarter said:

 

@Htmlkid @Andy95W @MikeOH Here is a snap shot from my 65' POH... Like @Culver LFA after my recent leak I now pull it first thing so I can verify it has stopped flowing fuel 

Hmm, what is the point of doing this?  You are already IN the airplane; they just told you how to shut the door for gawd's sake.  You're sure not checking for water in the sump!