73_Challenger
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2017
- Messages
- 26
- Reaction score
- 5
Good Day Everyone,
I have been having issues in the past couple flights with a very low fuel pressure reading during climbs. On climb out the gauge reads barely above zero. This is with the electric fuel pump on. As soon as I start to lower the nose the gauge starts to rise and returns back to normal, around the 5 PSI mark. In the past few months I have also noticed that when I turn on the electric fuel pump for start, the pump will run dry and I will not get any fuel pressure in the lines. As soon as I start cranking the pressure comes back up and if the engine does not start it will stay in the normal range with the fuel pump on. I thought this may have been from sitting a few days but when tested yesterday about 20 minutes after the flight, I still could not get any pressure with the electric pump with the engine off.
Little bit of history with the fuel system. I did SB1006 when I first bought the airplane a few years ago, after the tanks were pulled I had small amounts of sealant that would show up when I sumped the tanks. While the tanks were out we also replaced the main fuel lines coming off the back of them. This has become less and less over time and both the fuel strainer screen and carb screen were all checked clean at last annual. I also had a leak in the fuel selector in which the lines to the selector were replaced. More recently I have started to get a fuel smell in the cabin during steep turns(around 45 degrees) and it goes away fairly quickly.
Just looking for some opinions on this, I will likely be taking it in to the shop on the field soon to see if there is anything they can find. Possibly an obstruction somewhere in the fuel line?
Thanks,
Tyler
I have been having issues in the past couple flights with a very low fuel pressure reading during climbs. On climb out the gauge reads barely above zero. This is with the electric fuel pump on. As soon as I start to lower the nose the gauge starts to rise and returns back to normal, around the 5 PSI mark. In the past few months I have also noticed that when I turn on the electric fuel pump for start, the pump will run dry and I will not get any fuel pressure in the lines. As soon as I start cranking the pressure comes back up and if the engine does not start it will stay in the normal range with the fuel pump on. I thought this may have been from sitting a few days but when tested yesterday about 20 minutes after the flight, I still could not get any pressure with the electric pump with the engine off.
Little bit of history with the fuel system. I did SB1006 when I first bought the airplane a few years ago, after the tanks were pulled I had small amounts of sealant that would show up when I sumped the tanks. While the tanks were out we also replaced the main fuel lines coming off the back of them. This has become less and less over time and both the fuel strainer screen and carb screen were all checked clean at last annual. I also had a leak in the fuel selector in which the lines to the selector were replaced. More recently I have started to get a fuel smell in the cabin during steep turns(around 45 degrees) and it goes away fairly quickly.
Just looking for some opinions on this, I will likely be taking it in to the shop on the field soon to see if there is anything they can find. Possibly an obstruction somewhere in the fuel line?
Thanks,
Tyler
