----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Ron, Bill's right. In case you didn't know, those holes on the front of the fuselage fuel caps are intended to pressurize the fuel tanks a bit. I head they pressurize the tanks by about 4.5 psi (who knows?). If the vents are missing or on backward, you could have the symptoms you describe. Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] (remove the QQQ) -----Original Message----- From: Bill Coons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004 8:59 AM To: Tommy Terry Cc: 'Ed Burkhead'; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'Coupe-Tech' Subject: Re: [COUPERS-TECH] Mysterious fuel problem I had a similar problem years ago when I accidently put the fuel cap on backwards. Make sure that the vent holes are facing foreward.... Bill Coons Tommy Terry wrote: > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > Hello Ron, > > I'm a novice myself but the one thing I've seen missing from this > conversation so far is about that restrictor. Make sure it is in the > discharge side of the mechanical pump. > > > > Tommy > > N93929 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ed Burkhead [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004 7:45 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Coupe-Tech > Subject: RE: [COUPERS-TECH] Mysterious fuel problem > > > > > > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > > > > > Ron, > > > > The other advice I've seen so far is good. One caution to Hartmut's > suggestion of borrowing a known good pump: the crankcase arm of the > pump is specific to the model series of the engine. A C-75/85 arm won't > work in a C-90. Ditto O-200. If you borrow a pump, be SURE it has the > right arm. > > > > Before the more complex suggestions listed by others, here's my suggestion: > > > > 1. Check the fuel valve on the right side of the fuselage, high up > under the instrument panel, and make sure it's in the open position. On > my Coupe open was horizontal. It's so hard to see, it'd be easy to > overlook it. Perhaps this valve is just partially open and you're > seeing the results of really slow fuel transfer. > > > > 2. The intermittency make me think of a drain that's sometimes blocked > by sludge and sometimes not. I'd suggest you take a hose and get a > siphon going from your fuel tanks and "vacuum" out the tanks into a > couple of fuel cans. Vacuum the entire bottom and corners of the tanks > (a good thing to do periodically). Carefully inspect the inside of the > tanks. Clean the screens at the bottom. Disconnect the line from the > pump and blow into it, having someone watch in the tanks to see if you > get bubbles. > > > > > > Also, be aware that the basic mechanical fuel pump can pump way more > than the engine can use. That's why Coupes have a restrictor on the > exit side of the pump on the fuel line that goes to the header tank. > Make sure that doesn't get removed in all this fussing around. > > > > > > Please be sure to let us know the resolution of this question. Our > curiosity is aroused. (Also, if it's not resolved, we'll help you beat > the problem into submission.) > > > > Good luck. Hope it turns out to be easy. > > > > Ed Burkhead > > http://edburkhead.com/ > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (remove the QQQ) > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004 1:12 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [SPAM] [COUPERS-TECH] Mysterious fuel problem > > > > > > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > > > Hello out there, My name is Ron Sinclair and I recently purchased an > Ercoupe 415-E sn 3000. The problem I am having is the fuel is not > getting to the header tank consistantly. The plane has two fuel pumps, > an electric one that is in line with the mechanical...which I'm guessing > was an attempt to solve the problem. (It should be noted that the > electric pump was installed in Canada where the plane was restored, and > when it was sold in the States the FSDO signed off on it with the new > Airworthiness Cert.) So with that loophole, I plan on keeping it. > Anyway...The plane seems to run off of the header only after an hour or > so of flight...or will pump fuel just fine untill you stop to refuel or > take a break..then upon leaving the airport will start running off the > header...the other day for instance I flew about thirty minutes to an > airport..then about 45 min. to another..didn't refuel and the plane > started running of the header on the way back...stopped to refuel and > didn't run off the header...flew to two more airports totalling about an > hour more with no problems...today after only about thirty minutes of > flight with full fuel, it started running off the header again. When you > land it resumes pumping the header back up... Running the electric pump > when it does this does no good.. yet both pumps seem to work well on the > ground. The first thing I tried was taking the electric pump out of the > system and running just the mechanical...thinking that maybe the > electric was restricting the other being in-line and not on... or that > perhaps the electric was vapor locking and causing the problem... This > hasn't worked and now I'm planning on reversing the experiment by taking > the mechanical out of the sytem and running just the electric.. The > problem is too random to detect any pattern... It may be fine or start > running off the header after only thirty minutes...any ideas? Ron > > ======================================================================== ====== > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/ > > > > > ======================================================================== ====== > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/ > > > > > ======================================================================== ====== > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/ > > > ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/
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