Red particles in float bowl, cause unknown.

[TS Flightlines]

This should NOT be RTV sealant from the firesleeve. Cant get RTV into the hose by sealing the firesleeve---unless someone tried to seal it BEFORE clamping it to the banjo. Highly doubtful. Like Roger said in an earlier post, may be from the diaphragm. Black residue---thats another story, and quite possible to be liner debris.
Tom

[Tracer 10]

A friend of mine just had the same problem in a new Rotax engine he installed in a Titan Tornado. Aircraft was all signed off and ready to start flying when he pulled the carb float bowls for a final check. He had numerous ground runs on this engine with 92 Octane Non-Ethenol fuel. He pulled the fuel pump apart and found it was corroded inside or had some type of coating that was sluffing off.
His research has indicated many problems with this factory installed pump & is considering a Billeted Fuel Pump for his engine.

[Jetguy]

Oh Sink where art thou!

Rgmwa, you should consider getting a new fuel pump to. May take your old one appart and inspecting it. Any chance you may have had some water in your fuel or how about mositure build up in that shipping container while at sea enroute.

[rgmwa]

Hi John,
I contacted our Rotax distributor in Australia this morning. The person I spoke with hadn't come across the issue before, but said he would discuss it with their main technical guy. I sent him the photo and a link to this post, and ordered a new fuel pump. The red colour of the particles seems to point to the diaphram as a more likely source than the fuel lines. That's what my local Rotax A&P thinks anyway. Hopefully it will be a warranty job, but we will see.

I received my engine in 2012 and it sat in dry conditions in its shipping crate until it went into the plane sometime in late 2013. I don't have the exact dates to hand just now. First start was in December 2014, and the engine currently has about 32 hours on it. I guess atmospheric moisture is always a possibility, although the engine seemed well crated and sealed for the ocean trip, and our climate is typically not very humid. Water in the fuel seems unlikely since I'm still around to report on the problem. Anyway, when I find out some more, I'll post it here.

[BigJohn]

RGMWA,

Curious. Do you use gas with ethanol in it?

[rgmwa]

BigJohn,
No, I'm using 98 (RON) unleaded, ethanonl free. Ethanol blends are still relatively uncommon in Australia. Our standard fuels are 91, 95 and 98 RON.

[Sink]

Happy Holidays everyone

First the corrosion in the fuel pump.
The newer Corona fuel pumps are made of a different material and MFG'd differently than the older AC and Pierberg pumps. If water gets into the Corona pump it can cause that whitish looking corrosion and if left in for prolonged periods moisture can cause some mild pitting. We have already seen this. If this is just some minor whitish coloring it won't hurt anything. This can also happen to the carb bowls because of the aluminum metal. Water can collect in the bottom and cause the white powder and pitting. One thing ethanol laced fuels do is keep moisture trapped in solution and just burns it through the engine. 100LL and straight auto fuel don't do this and moisture can pool.

p.s.
The Corona pumps were never made to take apart and reassemble. I wouldn't worry about them unless you have a constant discharge from the drain. These pumps can and do weep sometimes. So if you see a few drops (not a constant discharge) from the drain that can be normal. Some are dry all the time and some are not.


Just a thought;
The red particles in the carb bowl can from from a few different sources.
If using fire sleeve with "End Dip" on the fire sleeve ends then this would account for the red particles because it was applied before the hose was pushed over the fitting. If you used a red silicone maybe someone either applied it before pushing the hose on the fitting or after that person applied the silicone remove the hose, even for a moment, to correct something and then pushed it back on. It may not even be a red silicone and possibly a thread sealer from somewhere else in the system.

On a new engine or an engine that has major work done on it or a hose change it is possible to see a few particles now and then. If it is a one time deal and tiny I usually don't worry and just dump them and allow a little fuel to flush out the carb with the pump with the bowl off and into a rag. If I keep seeing debris and or it is large in nature (enough to plug the main jet) then I would look much more closely. Debris from fuel tanks can be common on new aircraft and that's why we should have fine meshed fuel filters inline. Even then there can be very fine debris that can make it to a carb bowl from anywhere in the fuel system after the first few hours on a new engine. Carb bowls are a good place to inspect at the 25 hr. warranty inspection and only takes a few minutes.


Hi Jetguy,
Did this help?

[Jetguy]

Rgmwa,
You might want to check your Engine log book and see if Vans Replaced your fuel hoses before they shipped the engine. There were some serial numbers that had a recall on their fuel hoses. Check this link and compare your serial number to see if it applies to your engine.

http://rotaxnews.net/wp-content/uplo.../06/d05141.pdf

[Flyingleap]

WE had the same problem at our home field with underground tanks of steel.
Rust in particles smaller than 1 micron got through the filters at the pump.
It was almost a fatal crash of a Christen Eagle because the "rust" got to the
fuel injectors and you know what happened. They shut down the pumps and cleaned the fuel farm tanks. Yes, they were old.

Sorry, just thinking out of the box......
John

[rgmwa]

Jetguy,
Thanks for the reminder. Yes, Vans carried out that ASB before they shipped the engine.