I’m a student pilot (about 60 hours so far) I’ve owned a 1980 Piper Dakota (PA-28-236) for about a year. I’ve been through my first annual with it and it’s been a wonderful plane.
However, I can’t seem to keep the front strut in inflated.
In the past 12 months, there have been 3 different A&P mechanics who have opened the thing up 5 times, most recently with a different kit with the square gasket rather than the oval ones. I’ve bought the appropriate front strut kits from McFarlane.
There has never been one particular “event”. It has just drifted lower and lower over time (each time).
I can’t say that I have never seen fluid leaking, but in this last episode it deflated after one flight (two landings) and there is no leaking fluid.
At one point, my mechanic thought the Schrader valve had a slow leak and replaced it. It’s probably been serviced twice since then (in the last few months).
The last time I was hopeful that the different kit would work, but I was also suspicious so we closely looked for any signs of pitting or anything else that would prevent a durable seal. We didn’t find any…to our naked eye at least.
Of course, maybe the old valve was leaking, and the new valve is also leaking. That’s one possibility.
By memory, I think the spec for the front strut is 350psi +/- 25psi. He filled it to 375 psi last time. They have always used the standard 5606 hydraulic fluid and then filled with nitrogen from a large talk.
From reading lots of posts, I know struts can require attention fairly regularly – but there is definitely something going on here. I’ve had no issue with either of my main struts.
I would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions.
Thank you!
However, I can’t seem to keep the front strut in inflated.
In the past 12 months, there have been 3 different A&P mechanics who have opened the thing up 5 times, most recently with a different kit with the square gasket rather than the oval ones. I’ve bought the appropriate front strut kits from McFarlane.
There has never been one particular “event”. It has just drifted lower and lower over time (each time).
I can’t say that I have never seen fluid leaking, but in this last episode it deflated after one flight (two landings) and there is no leaking fluid.
At one point, my mechanic thought the Schrader valve had a slow leak and replaced it. It’s probably been serviced twice since then (in the last few months).
The last time I was hopeful that the different kit would work, but I was also suspicious so we closely looked for any signs of pitting or anything else that would prevent a durable seal. We didn’t find any…to our naked eye at least.
Of course, maybe the old valve was leaking, and the new valve is also leaking. That’s one possibility.
By memory, I think the spec for the front strut is 350psi +/- 25psi. He filled it to 375 psi last time. They have always used the standard 5606 hydraulic fluid and then filled with nitrogen from a large talk.
From reading lots of posts, I know struts can require attention fairly regularly – but there is definitely something going on here. I’ve had no issue with either of my main struts.
I would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions.
Thank you!
