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Took me 11 hours to chase down a fuel leak that turned out to be a 4 dollar O-ring on an old Cessna 172
Last week I spent a full day and a half on a 172 that kept showing a faint fuel smell in the cabin after shutdown. I pulled panels, checked lines, pressure tested the tanks, even boroscoped the vent system, and nothing showed up. Turned out the filler neck O-ring was dry rotted and weeping just enough to soak the insulation blanket behind the panel, which is why my sniffer kept missing it. So here is the debate: do you guys replace every rubber seal on a 40 year old airframe as cheap insurance, or do you wait for a symptom and save the owner the labor hours? I am honestly torn on which way is right.
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oliver_morgan16d ago
Replacing every rubber seal on a 40 year old plane is a money pit, half that stuff is still fine and you just burned the owner's cash for nothing. Wait for a symptom, but when you do find one, hunt down every seal in that same system while you're already in there.
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