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Chasing Leaks: thoughts?

bill.hutchison

Well Known Member
So I finally spent some time in the dark tonight with my RV and a couple of blacklights. I'd done an oil change, brake pads and a few other minor tasks. Went for a short flight, came back, pulled the cowls and shut off the lights. (O-360 A4B1N motor, rear mounted accessory case)

Here's what I found:

1) Very minor leaks around the rear sump bolts/flange. This was not surprising given that when I bought the plane there was some RTV in there. Permatex has gone on that for the time being.

2) Lower bolt where right-hand magneto attaches to case. Switched to Pmags a while back - assuming this should be easy to mitigate. Hoping it's just a torque issue. But if it's not, what would you suggest?

3) Very small leak at the quick drain in the sump. It's safety wired properly and operates properly. I'm wondering if it needs thread sealant?

4) This is the one that threw me off. The fuel pump is definitely leaking. All but one of the slotted screws on the bottom of the pump had a small amount of oil on them. Some of the screws had torque seal on them, but when I turned the screwdriver to tighten (and each went about 1/4 turn except for the clean one - it didn't move at all) the torque seal didn't move/break, either.

There was also wet oil at what appears to be a gasket or seal that runs around the circumference of the pump, and it fluoresced a nice, minty green. Definitely leaking. What can I do here? (See yellow arrows in lousy photo)

I don't think any of these really represent safety issues. They're minor, but they're messy and they annoy me and I want to fix these.

What say the hive mind?
 

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Safe air style quick drains have an oring inside them that can leak over time. Simple replacement.

Only fix on the pump is to remve it and install with new gasket.

Larry
 
Get a handful of mag gaskets. I tried to adjust and remount a mag and it leaked, they both did. The gasket seems intolerant of reuse.

I like the superior brand (pink) gasket material better than the Lycoming - I got both for long term experimentation.
 
Two of my three Saf-Air drains, about 10 years old, had developed the drips. I debated new O-rings vs just putting in new drains....the CAV110's were only about $15, so I just replaced all three with new ones (used some 567 thread sealant). I used the opportunity to empty the tanks so I could re-weight, then refilled them two gallons at a time so I could recalibrate the display.

Relative to oil leaks...I also noted that I'm getting a small nuisance leak at the base of the dipstick tube.
 
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