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Fuel sender leak

N24YW

Well Known Member
My fuel sender is leaking. The gasket has swelled up some and it seems to have some blue stains on the sending unit. My question, is it possible to remove the sender on a Rv 6 with out pulling the tank off of the wing. My plan is to try to use tank sealer and no gasket.?/

Jim Knight
Burlington Iowa
 
Yes! And then you can cut the the gasget with a plastic kinfe to remove the sender unit. When you re install it, just use pro seal and no gasget.
 
...and use....

...socket head cap screws when you re-install the sender.

Much easier to get at in the restricted space than philips head screws if you ever need to get back in there.
 
Yes, but.....

You can do it with the tank in, but........It is difficult get your hands in there to work, and it is very hard to clean the surfaces between the sender and the tank. It only takes a few extra minutes to remove the tank, throw it up on the bench, and work on it with ease.
 
I'm afraid I have to agree with Jim on this one. I've done it both ways, and on a -6, I will never again try to do it without removing the tank. I's so much easier. You can remove and reinstall the tank in less than an hour and you will save more time than that by doing it this way. Plus you will do a much cleaner job.
 
pulling tanks not easy

I'm afraid I have to agree with Jim on this one. I've done it both ways, and on a -6, I will never again try to do it without removing the tank. I's so much easier. You can remove and reinstall the tank in less than an hour and you will save more time than that by doing it this way. Plus you will do a much cleaner job.

sounds easy if you say it fast. As I don't have a hangar, and not being the builder, dont' have a lot of fancy tools, would you still recommend pulling the tanks? I'm concerned that I won't get the fuel line and vent lines back together as good as they are now; in fact, is there enough 'slack' in these rigid lines to actually separate the flare fittings, to allow the tank to 'swing' free?

I'm sure doing them in place is a huge pain, but I'd rather not pull them if I don't have to.

your words of wisdom appreciated.
 
Like I said,

I'm concerned that I won't get the fuel line and vent lines back together as good as they are now; in fact, is there enough 'slack' in these rigid lines to actually separate the flare fittings, to allow the tank to 'swing' free?

It can be done in place. If you DO decide to pull the tank, remove the "B" nuts first. Don't try to remove the tank and THEN undo the lines. The lines are not long enough to flex much at all.
 
good advice

thanks Mel,
I already bought the hex head screws for the last leak 'fix'. Now just the 'gasket or not' decision. I'm leaning towards just coating everything with Permatex aviation form-a-gasket. Actually, I don't think i CAN put a gasket on with the tanks in place.....won't be able to slide it over the float?
 
+1 for tank removal. The tank was remarkably easy to remove (especially compared to my Cherokee tanks, which I had to remove to address an AD). I am convinced based on personal experience that the job is actually faster if one removes the tank.

LarryT
 
Porbably not if your screws are painted !

As mine where. It only took two hours for me to complete the sender replacement, start to finish, tank in.
Although I have never tried to cut the paint around the screws, and it may well be an easy job with the right tool, I was not willing to take the chance of ruining my paint job.
I was also not willing to leave my screws unpainted. Some do, and that is certainly a builders option, but I did not care for the unfinished appearance. My opinion only.
The other risk you take if your plane was painted post tank install is the very real opportunity to do damage to the ajoining paint on the skins. Paint flows between the skins and can form a bridge that might peel. I would be careful and scribe with a razer knife to make sure I didnt lift any paint if I was going to remove on a painted airplane.
I have removed the tank on an unpainted airplane. The countsunk skins take some grunt to wiggle loose.
That said, I have no doubt it would be quicker and easier to remove the tank for the repair, all things being equal.
Just trying to keep another view out. This is not a difficult job with the tank on.
 
gasket &sender repair

i just replaced both wing tank gaskets on cover and sender thought i would pass along what i learned it was not an easy job but it was not hopeless
this was done on rv-6a i ordered parts 2 large cork gaskets and 2 rubber gaskets for fuel senders from Vans parts were cheap now to begin by removing old parts i used a craftsman 90% screw driver to break loss screws and an 1" long super stubby scew driver on the left side i was able to remove sender in cover and right side removed sender then cover used mineral spri**** to clean parts then washed with soap and water and dried parts the old gaskets and screws were installed with a product called fuel lube it seemed to me it dried out on the cork gaskets and was part of leak problem and some of screws were weaping also and the rubber gasket under the sender was deformed from the gas they were installed in 2003 now the question what to use to reassemble after reading up on the old posts i decided to use aviation #3 permatex and applied to both side of cork gasket and screws and installed then i put permatex on sender gasket and screws and tightend but the permatex was to slippery on the rubber gasket so i removed a cleaned the gasket and installed with prematex on screws only on sender same thing on right side but i used a 1/4 inch rachet with phillips bit to tighten it was faster let sit for 24 hrs and added gas no leaks
 
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