I too, had to recently change my header tank valve. It was seeping at the handle and was leaking past the valve when the valve was shut off. Another potential cause could be the nose tank gasket and tightness. Any gas that may seep past that gasket and gage grommet in the hood will go down he outside of the tank and be very hard to find , but the smell.
Socialism will eventually run out of other peoples money. --- On Mon, 4/27/09, Hartmut Beil <[email protected]> wrote: From: Hartmut Beil <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] fuel in cockpit To: "Techlist Ercoupe" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, April 27, 2009, 1:28 PM #yiv605010331 .hmmessage P { margin:0px;padding:0px;} #yiv605010331 { font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;} Good observation Linda. It could also be the fuel valve itself leaking... Hartmut To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:09:06 -0700 Subject: [ercoupe-tech] fuel in cockpit > Bert, A couple years ago, not long after I got my 415-C, I began getting blue stains on my hand whenever I reached under the panel to check the position of the fuel valve handle during pre-flight. Turns out there was a small amount of seepage from where the tube that that valve is on goes into the header tank. The valve mechanism is right over pilot's feet, so I thought of this as something else worth checking in your situation. Linda > Bert wrote: > >> >> >> I have presented this problem before. Several suggestions were put >> forth. However, the problem presists. In a nut shell: >> >> - every flight leads to an eventual high volume leak of fuel into >> > the > >> cockpit generally over the left seat occupants feet. >> >> - turning off the fuel pump will stop the leak. >> >> - the system has been pressure tested twice, no leaks found. >> >> - the aircraft has had a fuel 'smell' for sometime now. >> >> - installtion of a new fuel filler cap (with glass covered fuel >> > level > >> indicator) solved the odor problem. >> >> - the new cap has a NEW gasket. >> >> - the caps airvent seems the only place fuel can exit the header >> > tank. > >> >> - the gasket at the at exit of the filler tube through the cowling >> > is > >> probably as old as the plane (1946) >> >> - best idea is, the system builds up pressure and forces fuel out >> > the > >> air vent, which then is forced by the in flight airstream down and >> under the cowling where it eventually flows over the header tank and >> onto the left seat occupants feet. >> >> - the overflow plumbing seems to be in working order. You can hear >> > the > >> fuel flowing back down to the wing tank when you over fill the >> > header > >> tank. >> >> - fuel exiting the airvent is not visually apparent during flight. >> >>>> - simply replacing the gasket at the filler tube/cowling would stop >>>> the fuel from entering the cockpit --- but not the actual lose of >>>> >>> fuel >>> >>>> in flight >>>> >>>> - anyone want to suggest a fix? Turning off the fuel pump and never >>>> allowing the header to fill itself works, but is obviously not a >>>> >>> fix, >>> >>>> just a work around. >>>> >>>> Help --- anyone, Please. >>>> >>>> Bert Hampton >>>> >>>> #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mkp {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;padding:0px 14px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mkp hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mkp #EC_hd {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:bold;line-height:122%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mkp #EC_ads {margin-bottom:10px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mkp .EC_ad {padding:0 0;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mkp .EC_ad a {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_ygrp-lc {font-family:Arial;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_ygrp-lc #EC_hd {font-weight:bold;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_ygrp-lc .EC_ad {margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg {font-size:13px;font-family:arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg table {font-size:inherit;font:100%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg select, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass input, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass textarea {font:99% arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg pre, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass code {font:115% monospace;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg EC_* {line-height:1.22em;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-text {font-family:Georgia;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-text p {} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass dd.EC_last p a {font-family:Verdana;font-weight:bold;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-vitnav {padding-top:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-size:77%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-vitnav a {padding:0 1px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg #EC_logo {padding-bottom:10px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-reco {margin-bottom:20px;padding:0px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-reco #EC_reco-head {font-weight:bold;color:#ff7900;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_reco-category {font-size:77%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_reco-desc {font-size:77%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-vital a {text-decoration:none;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-vital a:hover {text-decoration:underline;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_ov ul {padding:0 0 0 8px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_ov li {list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;font-size:77%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_ov li a {text-decoration:none;font-size:130%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor #EC_nc {background-color:#eee;margin-bottom:20px;padding:0 8px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor .EC_ad {padding:8px 0;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor .EC_ad #EC_hd1 {font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;color:#628c2a;font-size:100%;line-height:122%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor .EC_ad a {text-decoration:none;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor .EC_ad a:hover {text-decoration:underline;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-sponsor .EC_ad p {font-weight:normal;color:#000000;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass EC_o {font-size:0;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass .EC_MsoNormal {} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-text tt {font-size:120%;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass blockquote {} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass .EC_replbq {} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass dd.EC_last p span {margin-right:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:bold;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass dd.EC_last p span.EC_yshortcuts {margin-right:0;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_photo-title a, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_photo-title a:active, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_photo-title a:hover, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_photo-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_file-title a, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_file-title a:active, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_file-title a:hover, #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_file-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-msg EC_p#attach-count {clear:both;padding:15px 0 3px 0;overflow:hidden;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-msg EC_p#attach-count span {color:#1E66AE;font-weight:bold;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass EC_div#ygrp-mlmsg #EC_ygrp-msg p a span.EC_yshortcuts {font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:normal;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-msg p a {font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass #EC_ygrp-mlmsg a {color:#1E66AE;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_attach-table div div a {text-decoration:none;} #yiv605010331 .ExternalClass div.EC_attach-table {width:400px;} Windows Live™ SkyDrive™: Get 25 GB of free online storage. Check it out.
