Steve Brown
Well Known Member
Fuel "Leak" Mystery (solved-Thanks)
Hi all,
A while back when I was filling the right wing tank, significant fuel leaked out between the wing and the fuselage. It stopped very quickly and has never happened again. As far as I could tell, it wasn't running back from the vent.
It seemed to clearly be a vent type issue since the tanks holds full fuel, and if its been hot, fuel will gush out when I open the cap. As expected.
I inspected the vent line, feed through/s, elbows, and found nothing. Everything was tight, no kinks, nothing.
I pushed some tubing over the vent and blew into it with the filler cap on. It felt sealed, at least as hard as I can blow. That should be hard enough. Since the fuel only has to rise about 2 feet it shouldn't take much pressure.
When I pulled the cap and blew on the hose I could hear air venting into the tank.
So, the vent is neither clogged nor significantly leaky.
I've put about 30 Hobbs hours on the plane since the "leak" incident. It's never repeated.
Everything seems ok, but I haven't got an explanation for the fuel coming out between the wing and fuselage. Its kind of nagging at me.
Anyone had a similar problem or know of a different test I should conduct?
Hi all,
A while back when I was filling the right wing tank, significant fuel leaked out between the wing and the fuselage. It stopped very quickly and has never happened again. As far as I could tell, it wasn't running back from the vent.
It seemed to clearly be a vent type issue since the tanks holds full fuel, and if its been hot, fuel will gush out when I open the cap. As expected.
I inspected the vent line, feed through/s, elbows, and found nothing. Everything was tight, no kinks, nothing.
I pushed some tubing over the vent and blew into it with the filler cap on. It felt sealed, at least as hard as I can blow. That should be hard enough. Since the fuel only has to rise about 2 feet it shouldn't take much pressure.
When I pulled the cap and blew on the hose I could hear air venting into the tank.
So, the vent is neither clogged nor significantly leaky.
I've put about 30 Hobbs hours on the plane since the "leak" incident. It's never repeated.
Everything seems ok, but I haven't got an explanation for the fuel coming out between the wing and fuselage. Its kind of nagging at me.
Anyone had a similar problem or know of a different test I should conduct?
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