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Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:02:36 -0500
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From: "Reinath, Michael S. (ARC-AM)" <michael.s.reinath@nasa.gov>
Subject: Leaky Fuel Selector
Thread-Topic: Leaky Fuel Selector
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> Now, if someone can tell me why the fuel always seems to flow from my rig=
ht
> tank to my left, with the plane parked on level ground, even with the fue=
l
> selector OFF, I'd be very interested!

Charles,

You may have a leak path in your fuel selector.

Ten years ago, just before my first flight, I discovered that my Andair
selector was leaking. I have a 3-position selector -- right, left, header. =
I
do not transfer fuel. I use the header as the reserve tank and can use the
mains down to almost zero without worrying about unporting. One day when I
returned to the hanger, 5 gallons of fuel were missing from the header.
There was no stain on the floor, so where did the fuel go? I checked the
other tanks, and the right main was up 5 gallons. I removed the valve and
determined that there was a leak path when the valve was in the center-tank
position. Normally I had been leaving the valve in the right  or left
position.

For an installation with only right and left positions, you might not even
notice such a leak because we normally don't have much of a fuel imbalance.
It could be dangerous, however, because you could end up sucking air from a=
n
empty tank in a situation with critically low fuel.

Mike Reinath
LNC2 360 @ 1150 Hrs