79 Warrior going if for paint and interior in two weeks, so I simply wanted to have replacement screws while I was at it. Fuel tank screws were going to be painted and my mechanic suggested we pull the tanks to check the sending unit gaskets and overfill hoses while we were at it. Airplane only has about 1340 TTSN and didn't figure corrosion would be and issue, but at least we'd have a look. Good news was there is no corrosion and everything else looked great, but the fuel gaskets were leaking fairly bad for a long period of time as the residue had become like tar (mostly on one of the tanks).
The fuel gauges were never very reliable and I have a JPI 830 that is very accurate regarding fuel used but only lets you know what is remaining when filled to the top and then reset to 48 gallons. I opted to add the Aerospace Logic gauges with new electronic sending units. All three of my boys are learning to fly so the cost is worth it to me that they know exactly what they have in the tanks.
We weren't surprised by the leaking gaskets, but we did happen to find a relatively old bird nest just outboard of the right tank. How that bird got that far into the wing I have no idea. Just forward of the nest toward the leading edge was quite a bit of droppings that ate into the green paint. After cleaning it up we treated it with CorrosionX.
Other planes may not be requiring the tanks to be pulled yet, but if they are anywhere near the age of mine, I'd put money that the gaskets are leaking on the fuel sending units. Hoses weren't bad but we replaced them anyway. I don't want the tanks to ever have to be pulled again for a long time.
I'll try to attach pictures...
The fuel gauges were never very reliable and I have a JPI 830 that is very accurate regarding fuel used but only lets you know what is remaining when filled to the top and then reset to 48 gallons. I opted to add the Aerospace Logic gauges with new electronic sending units. All three of my boys are learning to fly so the cost is worth it to me that they know exactly what they have in the tanks.
We weren't surprised by the leaking gaskets, but we did happen to find a relatively old bird nest just outboard of the right tank. How that bird got that far into the wing I have no idea. Just forward of the nest toward the leading edge was quite a bit of droppings that ate into the green paint. After cleaning it up we treated it with CorrosionX.
Other planes may not be requiring the tanks to be pulled yet, but if they are anywhere near the age of mine, I'd put money that the gaskets are leaking on the fuel sending units. Hoses weren't bad but we replaced them anyway. I don't want the tanks to ever have to be pulled again for a long time.
I'll try to attach pictures...
