Exhaust Leak

[Officer25]

Had a CO alarm go off in flight and de-cowled to check what’s going on. I see nearly every ball joint and exhaust probe leaking a decent amount. Any recommendations on how to go about repairing?

 

I know how to deal with the exhaust flanges and replace the gaskets there l, but I’m not familiar with how to seal up ball joints or probes.

 

[N201MKTurbo]

Those leaks don’t usually cause a CO issue. They leak into the lower cowl and are blown out. If you got  a CO alarm you need to remove the heater muff and inspect the muffler for cracks.

[Fritz1]

CO alarms can go off during taxi and climb, cabin leaks, if they go off in cruise things get dangerous fast, would not fly the airplane and have heater muff inspected asap as stated supra

[larryb]

CO alarms can also go off as they age and lose calibration. My sensor on had high readings and alerts as its battery needed replacement and the unit needed calibration. I replaced it and normal readings returned. I'm talking 40, not 400 here.

[EricJ]

Leaks in slip and ball joints when the exhaust is cold are normal.    They should be there to indicate that the pieces have room to expand into each other and seal as the system warms up.    The gasket should be fixed, but the leaks around the probes are not a big deal and are best left alone beyond basic tightening of the clamps.

As others have said, leaks in the cowl are not nearly as big of an issue as leaks in the muffler that feed the cabin heat.  

It is also normal to see CO, sometimes a lot, in the cabin during ground operations or at high angle of attack.

 

[Gee Bee Aeroproducts]

Poor design 

This needs a new design exhaust system to modern design.

 

 

[N201MKTurbo]

15 minutes ago, Gee Bee Aeroproducts said:

Poor design 

This needs a new design exhaust system to modern design.

 

 

That is a very old design. Mooney changed to a slip joint exhaust in about 1968. I was surprised to see a ball joint system still in the wild.