Intermittent Temporary Rich Engine Start-Up Condition?

[hharney]

It does not drip in flight only when shut down. I just made a habit of turning off the fuel valves for now.

[Jerry De Santis]

Herb, How do you know if it is not dripping while in flight? Is it because engine is running?

Jerry

[Roger]

A couple of weeks ago I was talking wth the female pilot for the Right Whale project in St. Augustine, and she showed me the fuel throttle body they had just replaced on their Turbo 337. The fitting on the end of the fuel line going into the throttle body had broken off at the threads. But the most interesting part was that the throttle body also had a crack in it starting at the fitting, which their mechanic surmised was due to over torque at the factory.

The one thing that jumped out at me was that there was the classic blue dye streak on the underside of the housing, which showed that this had probably been cracked for some time, and had a slow leak.

I didn't ask her if they had experienced any fuel or pressure flow issues prior to the break in the fitting, but if I see her agian I will ask and let you know. In the meantime, use the old method of looking everywhere for any blue dye, to try and locate a random leak.

[hharney]

Jerry

I have not noticed any fuel/oil deposits on the belly after flight.

[edasmus]

Update: I flew yesterday and today, about 3.5 hrs total. It appears that the dripping on the rear engine has ceased. I looked closely at the front engine and after both flights, I could see a drip hanging from one of the drain tubes but it didn't fall after watching it for about five minutes. I got bored and quit watching after that. Unless I see some dramatic increase in dripping 100LL from either engine, my gut tells me this is a non-issue. The lack of concern from my shop helps my gut feeling as well. Who knows.

Ed

[Roger]

I meant to say that the blue dye was apparent on the underneath/side of the throttle body not the belly of the aircraft .