Bryan,
If you really have excessively high fuel pressure (not a bad sender) the
fuel flow can go high enough to cause a major power loss. One known failure
mode is in the aneroid in the fuel pump. It is designed to maintain proper
pressure as the outside pressure goes down with altitude. It can fail to
maximum possible pressure, causing excessive fuel flow, power loss, black
smoke, etc. During take-off this can be a critical failure. Always monitor
fuel flow, and, if you have to, control it manually using the mixture
control until you can land and fix it.
Paul Bricker
N63PB

-----Original Message-----
From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Burr
Bryan
Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 9:55 AM
To: lml
Subject: [LML] Fuel Pressure

Gents,
Regarding a Continental TSIO550E, climb power 34.5" RPM2500, Full rich  
33 gph.
During a recent flight I experienced higher than normal fuel  
pressure.  The fuel flow was unchanged 33 gph as were the egt and cht  
temps.  Normally my fuel pressure is 36 psi but it climbed to 40 psi  
and the Chelton audible warning to "check engine" came on.  It is set  
to come on at 39.

Typically I would be suspicious of high pressure if fuel flow had  
dropped as this could indicate a restriction.  But everything else  
remained normal.  Low pressure could indicate several things such as  
broken line, failing pump, restriction, etc.

So what are the concerns with high fuel pressure?  What are the  
trouble shooting steps?  I suspect a possible wiring or sending unit  
issue?

Thanks
Bryan Burr
N132BB

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