Partial power loss

[6597]

FuelFlowC85.jpeg (192.61 KiB) Viewed 243 times

[6597]

I verified that I do have the proper fully vented caps on both tanks

That's a good thing. Without the tank inter-connect breather your fuel selector should be a Left-Right-Off. If you have a 'Both' setting then there can be venting issues.

Glad you found the crud in the finger strainer on the left tank.

If the fuel flow on the right tank is still off then I'd lean towards the fuel selector not fully traveling to it's proper position. Or you could try blowing out the line from the tank to the fuel selector (drain tank, disconnect at both ends and see if the line is clear).

[mikeacro]

Okay, I replaced the fuel selector, cleaned out the strainer in the the right tank ( left was clear ) did a drain test from the gascolator and the time to drain a gallon was within seconds of each tank. Then did a full power run up, and was very near the max rpm for my wood prop,( 2250 ) , so it would appear it’s time to go flying!
Cheer, Mike

[8362]

Congratulations.
Was there blockage in the selector?

[mikeacro]

Unfortunately, all the work I did didn’t solve the problem. Again, I had power loss on the right tank. It was more severe than previously. I was descending at about 100 fpm at full throttle. Power was restored once I switched to the left tank. After landing I did a drain test as before and it took 2.5 minutes to drain a gallon from the right and 1.2 to drain a gallon from the left. There was 7 gallons in each tank? I drained the remaining fuel from the right tank, and used a flashlight and dental mirror to inspect the tank. I found a large piece of cloth near the finger strainer and removed it. I looked for some more and found a larger piece lodged in the inboard rear section of the tank. Took some effort to remove it as it was almost glued in. Maybe some kind of sealant or old fuel residue. Hard to tell. I plane to drain and check the other tank just to be sure.

73337072109__54F28D54-A74F-41A4-A00C-F63A16B6D790_1_320x320.jpeg (44.62 KiB) Viewed 109 times

73337072109__54F28D54-A74F-41A4-A00C-F63A16B6D790_1_320x320.jpeg (44.62 KiB) Viewed 109 times

I would encourage everyone to borescope their tanks and verify you don’t have some debris in lurking there waiting for the right moment to make yor plane a glider.

[6643]

I think you may be on to something!

[mikeacro]

After removing the debri, I went back in with a borescope and found even more of the same material. Including another large piece about 6x8”. I can see lots of tiny bits all around , so I plan to flush the tank tomorrow

[6643]

Any idea what it is was?

Do you, or did the previous owner, have any enemies?

[mikeacro]

Not that I’m aware about of. I’ve only had the plane a couple weeks. The previous owner 7 years. And he spent 4k chasing this problem, and thought he had it resolved…..nope.

[6643]

I see from your other thread that you've identified it as an old dish towel. Interesting, to say the least...