Water dripping from engine compartment

N8ZX

N8ZX

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2019
Messages
7
Location
Lexington, NC
1995 7GCBC O-320-B2B
Guys, I’ve flown this airplane for 2 years and 400+ hours and I have never had water dripping from above the right gear leg, aft of the firewall.
I washed it over 6 weeks ago and have flown it many hours since then.
Today, I put it in the hangar after an hour flight in 90° heat and it dripped out until there was a pool 6” in diameter.
any ideas?
Thanks-
 
Are you certain it is water, and not brake fluid, engine oil, or avgas? All of those have vents at the bottom of the firewall. On my 8KCAB the brake fluid reservoir overflow tube terminates where the right gear leg bolts to the fuselage.

Assuming it is in fact water, the next step would be figuring out exactly where it is dripping from, and tracing that back to the source. You must somehow have gotten water trapped inside the aircraft in such a way that flying level or nose down allowed it to drain. Try propping the tail wheel up so it is higher than the nose and see if that causes more dripping.
 
Big Ed said:
Are you certain it is water, and not brake fluid, engine oil, or avgas? All of those have vents at the bottom of the firewall. On my 8KCAB the brake fluid reservoir overflow tube terminates where the right gear leg bolts to the fuselage.

Assuming it is in fact water, the next step would be figuring out exactly where it is dripping from, and tracing that back to the source. You must somehow have gotten water trapped inside the aircraft in such a way that flying level or nose down allowed it to drain. Try propping the tail wheel up so it is higher than the nose and see if that causes more dripping.
Click to expand...
That’s a possibility Big Ed.
we were doing wheel landing today and it could have migrated from the aft fuselage somewhere.
difnt think of that possibility.
thanks!
 
If you are shipping water in the belly you need to make sure all your belly drain hole aren't blocked...
I've seen recover jobs that neglected the small but important step of giving water a path out of the airframe...🤔

Chris
 
I wax the belly about once every other month. I try to pay particular attention to the belly drain holes. Just odd that this would manifest leaking now when I haven't changed anything in the way I wash or fly this airplane.
 
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