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Good morning,

A friend with an RV-12 (912ULS engine) said he smelled fuel on his last flight. We removed the cowling and inspected for fuel leaks. We determined that when the engine was running at idle, fuel was dripping out of the left carburetor. It appears that the fuel is dripping out of the top of the float bowl.

The engine has approximately 160 hours on it. It had less than 125 hours on the aircraft when my friend purchased it. It had been flown very little during the 12 months prior to purchase. There is no history of any problems with the carburetors. The floats have been tested twice. I thought they had been replaced but I cannot find the log book entry.

We have not yet removed the carburetor for inspection.

I would appreciate any suggestions on what might be causing the problem. We would like to have a plan of attack before we start.

Thank you for your time.

Bob
  • Re: Leaking Carburetor

    by » 7 years ago


    Most common leak is the carb bowl gasket. Just do this first and see if it corrects it. Don't start tearing things apart and make a problem where there isn't one.
    Make sure the carbs are pneumatically synced. Carbs way out of sync cause rough running. Rough running makes the carbs shake so bad the floats and needle valve can't control the fuel level and it vents out the tube.

    Since you are going to pop the bowl off to change the gasket then weigh the floats and make sure they are not too heavy. If one or more is sinking then the fuel level can not be controlled and fuel comes out the vent. Total is 7 grams. They get weighed together. Just dry them off and put a pair on the scale.

    Roger Lee
    LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC
    Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN)
    520-349-7056 Cell


    Thank you said by: Robert J. Dean

  • Re: Leaking Carburetor

    by » 7 years ago


    Once again, Thank you Roger for your guidance. We will try/check those items and let you know what we found.

    Thanks,

    Bob

  • Re: Leaking Carburetor

    by » 7 years ago


    Roger,

    Yesterday, we removed the bowl of the carburetor and inspected the gasket and check the floats as you suggested. The gasket was one of the old cork gaskets and it was damaged in several places. One of the floats passed the test and one failed. We had a good spare float and a new gasket so we replaced the gasket and one of the floats. We then ran the engine on the ground and then went flying. Everything appears to be A-OK.
    We ordered 4 new floats and will put new floats in both carburetors.

    Your advice was right on the money. Thank you for your help.
    Bob

  • Re: Leaking Carburetor

    by » 7 years ago


    Hi Bob,

    Glad it worked out. The gasket is usually a common offender if you have a leak.

    Just a note for others. If you weigh the floats as the pair you should always replace the floats as a pair. You should not replace single floats.

    Roger Lee
    LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC
    Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN)
    520-349-7056 Cell


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