Wing fuel gauge

[GeeBee]

11 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

You will probably not find any of these in stock at Mooney or at an MSC. But, as with all other parts, order a couple through a Mooney Service Center. Mooney prioritizes purchased and manufactured parts on backorders. Once they reach the amount on back order that exceeds the minimum level they need to order from the manufacturer then it makes sense for them to order, since they’ll get their money back soon. 

The biggest issue is that so many people complain about no parts being available, yet most of them don’t order any parts. The people that are actually ordering parts are getting them in a reasonably decent timeframe. About the situation with ordering Cessna or Beechcraft parts - not many sitting on the shelf.

 

MSC's are not going to waste their precious and limited time ordering things they know are not available. They simply say, "not in stock". The problem is not us. A transmitter is useless when there is no receiver. Only Mooney can fix Mooney and right now, they don't want to fix Mooney.

[LANCECASPER]

Just now, GeeBee said:

 

MSC's are not going to waste their precious and limited time ordering things they know are not available. They simply say, "not in stock". The problem is not us. A transmitter is useless when there is no receiver. Only Mooney can fix Mooney and right now, they don't want to fix Mooney.

MSCs do it every day. I've ordered parts this past year and been told when the projected date is and in both instances the parts came before the date projected.

When the MooneyMax group toured the factory in September we were shown am example of a backorder sheet on a batch of parts that were being produced. It was stressed that this is the way they determine the parts to produce, so if you need a part order it. Also a whiteboard in one of the offices showed the parts needed to be produced or ordered, how many backorders, minimum orders, projected dates, etc.

Gone are the days when Mooney or Cessna or Beech make or order parts to fill up the shelves in the stock room.

[GeeBee]

1 minute ago, LANCECASPER said:

MSCs do it every day. I've ordered parts this past year and been told when the projected date is and in both instances the parts came before the date projected.

When the MooneyMax group toured the factory in September we were shown am example of a backorder sheet on a batch of parts that were being produced. It was stressed that this is the way they determine the parts to produce, so if you need a part order it. Also a whiteboard in one of the offices showed the parts needed to be produced or ordered, how many backorders, minimum orders, projected dates, etc.

Gone are the days when Mooney or Cessna or Beech make or order parts to fill up the shelves in the stock room.

That is because you deal with someone close to the factory. Out here in the hinterlands, MSCs just check the computer and say, "not in stock". Again, we are not the problem.

[LANCECASPER]

Just now, GeeBee said:

That is because you deal with someone close to the factory. Out here in the hinterlands, MSCs just check the computer and say, "not in stock". Again, we are not the problem.

I usually order my parts from LASAR on the West Coast  and have them dropshipped 13 miles from the factory 

[Pinecone]

Mooney supplies parts that they make.  I have ordered parts and gotten them.

They are NOT supplying parts that they contract from other manufacturers.   And Johnny addressed a group buy with pre-payment. Mooney will not do that as they need to be sure that the doors are open when the parts show up to do the required QA and then shipping them out.

They do have some stock of some outside parts. I was able to source the knob to turn the O2 on/off.

[GeeBee]

8 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

Mooney supplies parts that they make.  I have ordered parts and gotten them.

They are NOT supplying parts that they contract from other manufacturers.   And Johnny addressed a group buy with pre-payment. Mooney will not do that as they need to be sure that the doors are open when the parts show up to do the required QA and then shipping them out.

They do have some stock of some outside parts. I was able to source the knob to turn the O2 on/off.

Exactly! I bought the last external dial gauge LASAR had in 2022 and I wanted to buy more but was told "unobtainum". It is a good thing I did because I lost the left one last month so now I have none and no chance of getting them. Only Mooney can fix this.

[GeeBee]

56 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

 And Johnny addressed a group buy with pre-payment. Mooney will not do that as they need to be sure that the doors are open when the parts show up to do the required QA and then shipping them out.

 

I will also address this excuse. HS! The people who ordered the parts simply become unsecured creditors. Most likely the court would release the parts FOB for those who ordered them. 

[LANCECASPER]

2 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Mooney supplies parts that they make.  I have ordered parts and gotten them.

They are NOT supplying parts that they contract from other manufacturers.   And Johnny addressed a group buy with pre-payment. Mooney will not do that as they need to be sure that the doors are open when the parts show up to do the required QA and then shipping them out.

They do have some stock of some outside parts. I was able to source the knob to turn the O2 on/off.

That may be true of some vendor parts, but they still supply some parts that they get from vendors just not the very expensive parts (example: $1000+ no-clutch back springs, 40:1 Gear sets, etc). The whiteboard I mentioned earlier showed which parts were ordered when they were expected and when they arrived. If they weren't buying anything from vendors they wouldn't even have the raw materials to produce the parts they make. They are buying raw materials and some vendor produced parts. 

Some of what I ordered this past year were not Mooney produced parts but vendor parts, one of which had a production date of 2 weeks before I received it.  I have Jonny's message on video that night at MooneyMax which primarily address the back springs. I have a video of what was said during the tour earlier that day and a picture of the whiteboard I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread but out of respect for their privacy I won't post any of that. 

Whatever anyone who needs parts chooses to do is up to them. This forum loves to go round and round about this. But the times in 2024 that I put in a backorder for the parts, including a vendor part that was not in stock, an MSC got them for me. They are shipping parts out five days a week out of Kerrville. I have a buddy who is the UPS driver on that route who delivers and picks up packages every day from them.  Mooney specifically said during the tour in September 2024 that if you need a part, put in a backorder for it - that's how they determine what's needed the most in the field - so that's what I'll do when I need a part. Have they communicated that well to the MSCs? I don't know. Does that guarantee that they can even still get every part that was used on an aircraft made many years ago? No.

[NickG]

On 12/31/2024 at 4:53 PM, Patrick Horan said:

Well this was an interesting way for my Rochester wing gauge to break.

I just wished we can get new ones. I purchased general Rochester gauges and it works..sorta, but it's not like the real thing. 

 

Is it possible to go directly to Rochester and have some custom made? Since Mooney doesn't want to help us out. Or have more important things to do.

Identical thing happened to me on my Ovation

[GeeBee]

Rochester gauges are not expensive

[flyboy0681]

2 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Exactly! I bought the last external dial gauge LASAR had in 2022 and I wanted to buy more but was told "unobtainum". It is a good thing I did because I lost the left one last month so now I have none and no chance of getting them. Only Mooney can fix this.

I ordered the last two that LASAR had in stock on 8/16/22 for my J, and am glad I did. A month later, one flew off the wing.

I knew at the time how rare it was to find one in stock (let alone two), prompting me to purchase them.

 

 

[NickG]

46 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:

I ordered the last two that LASAR had in stock on 8/16/22 for my J, and am glad I did. A month later, one flew off the wing.

I knew at the time how rare it was to find one in stock (let alone two), prompting me to purchase them.

 

 

Just spoke with Lasar and put my name on the waitlist

[GeeBee]

The fact is the excuse that we could not do a "group buy" is bogus. The entire transaction could be easily bonded with the price of the bond in the pre-purchase deposits. We are being gas lighted, period.

 

[Pinecone]

21 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

That may be true of some vendor parts, but they still supply some parts that they get from vendors just not the very expensive parts (example: $1000+ no-clutch back springs, 40:1 Gear sets, etc). The whiteboard I mentioned earlier showed which parts were ordered when they were expected and when they arrived. If they weren't buying anything from vendors they wouldn't even have the raw materials to produce the parts they make. They are buying raw materials and some vendor produced parts. 

Some of what I ordered this past year were not Mooney produced parts but vendor parts, one of which had a production date of 2 weeks before I received it.  I have Jonny's message on video that night at MooneyMax which primarily address the back springs. I have a video of what was said during the tour earlier that day and a picture of the whiteboard I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread but out of respect for their privacy I won't post any of that. 

Whatever anyone who needs parts chooses to do is up to them. This forum loves to go round and round about this. But the times in 2024 that I put in a backorder for the parts, including a vendor part that was not in stock, an MSC got them for me. They are shipping parts out five days a week out of Kerrville. I have a buddy who is the UPS driver on that route who delivers and picks up packages every day from them.  Mooney specifically said during the tour in September 2024 that if you need a part, put in a backorder for it - that's how they determine what's needed the most in the field - so that's what I'll do when I need a part. Have they communicated that well to the MSCs? I don't know. Does that guarantee that they can even still get every part that was used on an aircraft made many years ago? No.

That is encouraging.

I did not do the factory tour due to mobility issues.

[CCAS]

On 12/31/2024 at 6:53 PM, Patrick Horan said:

Well this was an interesting way for my Rochester wing gauge to break.

@Patrick Horan Hi Patrick - You may be in luck. I've got two of the 880024-009 dials (new in the bag). Send me a PM if you're interested. 

John 

Follow up edit: Sold to the OP.  Apologies to the others in line.

Edited January 7 by CCAS
Item sold

[Patrick Horan]

3 hours ago, CCAS said:

@Patrick Horan Hi Patrick - You may be in luck. I've got two of the 880024-009 dials (new in the bag). Send me a PM if you're interested. 

John 

Just sent you a message 

[Patrick Horan]

On 1/7/2025 at 11:40 AM, CCAS said:

@Patrick Horan Hi Patrick - You may be in luck. I've got two of the 880024-009 dials (new in the bag). Send me a PM if you're interested. 

John 

Follow up edit: Sold to the OP.  Apologies to the others in line.

Shout out to John for comming through and getting me these gauges. I just got them today!! Out with the temporary gauges!

Edited January 13 by Patrick Horan

[Marc_B]

FWIW, I previously had one of my wing sight gauges replaced with a reseal at Weep No More.  Last week I reached out to Paul Beck; he typically got them from their fellow MSC, Oasis, but didn't have any on the shelf.  So he added me to a list to eventually replace the other one.  Not clear what a minimum order from Rochester looks like...when I reached out to Century Spring (who makes return springs for Precise Flight speed brakes) their minimum order was a 1000 springs.  Curious how many different gauges are found on the various Mooney fuel tanks?  May be a really long wait!

[Fix]

If some has a spare set of those gauges, I’m interested. M20K 252