Bad case of 6PC juju

ktup-flyer

ktup-flyer

En-Route
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Messages
4,781
Location
Tupelo, MS
Display Name
Display name:
ktup-flyer
Walked out to the plane and saw some nice blue spots on my left flap track and on the wing root fairing. I’m really hoping it’s a sending unit gasket or something and I’m not resealing tanks for Christmas. :sigh:
31845581-FAFB-4AF0-BF8F-DCA8DB2E6455.jpeg
69959547-D898-4173-8009-A567C10A7684.jpeg
 
Wing tanks or bladders? That could be the beginning of MC Hammer’s Bladder Time. LOL.

When ours let go it made a heck of a lot bigger mess than that.
 
ktup-flyer said:
Wet wings. First 182 model with them
Click to expand...

Hmmm. I’m no help then. Hopefully you don’t have to reseal. Never fun either way, blazers or tanks. Crossing fingers for you.

It’s only money, right? LOL. Ugh.
 
ktup-flyer said:
Wet wings. First 182 model with them
Click to expand...
Isn't a matter of if, but when. On Mooneys its 7-9 AMUs to do it right. Bladders are more like 12. I like bladders a lot. If they do bad, they can be refurbished in situ for about an AMU.
 
MAKE SURE YOU TELL HIM TO KEEP YOU APPRISED OF THE INCURRED COSTS ALONG THE WAY!
MAKE THIS CLEAR W/ NO ROOM FOR MISUNDERSTANDING!

My $800 warrantied repair turned into a $2400 repair very quickly because "warrantied" means different things to the guy doing the work versus the guy paying for the work I guess.
That guy won't so much as put air in one of my tires even if it goes flat in front of his hangar because I taxied over a tire pump that he left on the taxiway.
 
steingar said:
Isn't a matter of if, but when. On Mooneys its 7-9 AMUs to do it right. Bladders are more like 12. I like bladders a lot. If they do bad, they can be refurbished in situ for about an AMU.
Click to expand...

Ouch. Your bladders are expensive. Our one bladder was well less than $3000, removed, and replaced with new, including labor. Closer to $2000.

But there was no refurbishing of it... how do they refurbish your bladders in the wing? That’s fascinating.
 
Pull a couple inspection panels to take a look?

By the thickness of it, it looks like it's been a slow seep for a while? Kinda gummy? The one by the wing root fairing may be related to the sample drain (or it might all be).

I cleaned my goo up with carb cleaner and some elbow grease. Turns out mine was from the sample drain not seating fully, but it was only around the drain itself.
 
denverpilot said:
Ouch. Your bladders are expensive. Our one bladder was well less than $3000, removed, and replaced with new, including labor. Closer to $2000.

But there was no refurbishing of it... how do they refurbish your bladders in the wing? That’s fascinating.
Click to expand...

I was told by Joey Cole, who runs a Mooney Service Center in Georgia, that they can be extroverted through their inspection panels and refurbished right then and there. Don't know about pokey Cessna's though.
 
I'm gonna sound like a broken record but a LOT of the cessna frustration is caused by LACK of access.
 
denverpilot said:
Ouch. Your bladders are expensive. Our one bladder was well less than $3000, removed, and replaced with new, including labor. Closer to $2000.
Click to expand...

That's the wet-wing-to-bladder conversion price. I had my 52 gal Mooney tanks stripped and resealed for $6500 in 2010, the traditional way rather than the new, spendier "in-tank auto spray" method, which can damage paint where the chemicals come out the fuel sump and go around to the top to be sprayed again and again . . .

Good luck chasing your own fuel tank demons!
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
MAKE SURE YOU TELL HIM TO KEEP YOU APPRISED OF THE INCURRED COSTS ALONG THE WAY!
MAKE THIS CLEAR W/ NO ROOM FOR MISUNDERSTANDING!

My $800 warrantied repair turned into a $2400 repair very quickly because "warrantied" means different things to the guy doing the work versus the guy paying for the work I guess.
That guy won't so much as put air in one of my tires even if it goes flat in front of his hangar because I taxied over a tire pump that he left on the taxiway.
Click to expand...
That sucks. He obviously should have padded the initial $800 fee in order to be able to honor the "warranty" without risking divorce and his kids starvation.
 
Wow, sorry to see that. Look at it as an opportunity to get to "know" your plane and improve it. I've been doing a lot of that since picking up my money-suck in July. Hopefully my misery helps you...be sure to return the favor and keep this post going.
 
GlennAB1 said:
He probably learned something from it, but it'll cost him.
Click to expand...

Both parties maybe did. Or didn’t.

We don’t know what was in writing, but one party thinks the other gave their word on something and the other thinks they didn’t.

Always a problem. Until you learn to get it in writing. Or deal only with people who’s handshake means something to them. Either way.
 
If a mechanic warranties his work, and he has to go back into the tank because it still leaks, and he works on a different area of the tank, is that new work or warrantied work?
 
GlennAB1 said:
If a mechanic warranties his work, and he has to go back into the tank because it still leaks, and he works on a different area of the tank, is that new work or warrantied work?
Click to expand...

Depends on what he warrantied.

Never seen a written warranty say “his work” on it. Have seen “materials and workmanship” and specific components, but never seen one say “the last three inches outboard of rib number ten was touched by this mechanic and is the only thing covered under this warranty, photos attached as Figures 1 through 6”.

Or, “His work is warrantied, but you get to guess which part of the tank he worked on, since your weren’t present”.
 
GlennAB1 said:
But, you trust a mechanic with your life...
Get your A&P and maintain your own plane.
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t mind really, but there’s still a lot of stuff I would farm out. Either no fun at all, or just nit picky and time wasting. And it doesn’t really pay off unless you get inspection authority too. A lot of money and time to get from “here” to “there” and maintaining one aircraft, the payback would be a decade or more.

Unless you went the “getting it via hours” route and for me anyway, that’d be a Yuge(TM) loss of income to take that much time off of a day job that pays real money, not Aviation money. LOL.

Just like the CFI ratings, those will pay back sometime around 2027. IRS and the accountant will love it, I’m sure. :) They don’t like businesses that don’t show a profit for a decade. Hahahaha.

A bunch of CFIs we’re discussing their rates elsewhere and one of the nit picky lawyer/CFIs reminded everyone that price collusion was against anti-trust law. I responded that I just publish my “suggested donations to my non-profit endeavor, in bitcoin”. LOL.
 
GlennAB1 said:
If a mechanic warranties his work, and he has to go back into the tank because it still leaks, and he works on a different area of the tank, is that new work or warrantied work?
Click to expand...

By your logic, my MX expects me to believe five FIVE leaks all began at the same time.

He said "It is fixed. Here is your invoice. The work is under warranty for a year."

When I asked him after the last time in the shop about the warranty, he himmed and hawd and said "We hadn't finished the repair but put it back in your hangar because you wanted to fly the plane.
Which 1. never happened and 2. if it wasn't completed why the invoice?

The guy thinks his **** doesn't stink. On day one I said "Is this something I need to take to the specialty folks in Austin?"
His response was "I have worked on every wet wing from a Mooney to a 737. Plus I own a Tiger. this is simple stuff."

After the 3rd time I said, Can I please give you the maintenance manuals that walk you through the repair and tank pressurization?
He said "Nah, Ive got this no need. Plus I have all the manuals downloaded as PDF if I need them."

After the 4th time I said are you pressurizing the tank?" "he said "I am not able to do that we will just fill it and watch it for leaks."

He is an over confident, shade tree mechanic that doesn't know when he is over his head. Probably a great engine guy.

In no other line of business does it work this way. If I had known this was costing me 1 dollar more than the original invoice, I would have flown it to Austin where they know how to do this.
He should have let me know that I was incurring costs.

He would say things like "One of your sumps was on the verge of having issues so I went ahead and popped in another one for you". It was cheap but it showed up on the bill.
Don't casually throw out "I went a head and did x for ya" Say "This looks bad, do you want me to order one and by the way the cost is X"

Bottom line is he thought he fixed it the first time. He didn't fix it and he talked his way into trying again and again until he got it and probably wishes he never said "warranty"
 
GlennAB1 said:
Had he done a full tank reseal to the tune of many times what he charged, I would agree that a one year warranty would be in order.
Click to expand...

Mooney tank reseals carry 7 year warranties from the big shops. (MN, TX, FL, OR)
 
The juju appears to be spreading....

9298EC0E-B506-4646-BAC7-11958FB287CB.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top