Oh where oh where did the tie wrap go?

rmciottijr

rmciottijr

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
643
Location
Havertown
Display Name
Display name:
rmciottijr
Well just got the plane back from the mechanic. I took it up for an IFR lesson and when we landed and taxied back to the tie down, I pulled the throttle back and I could not get the RPMs below 1100. It was a little windy that day we assumed it was the wind causing it. My partner checked it out and the following week and found the same problem. So we called that mechanic and asked him to take a look at it. The mechanic called me today and gave me the report. It was all caused by a little white piece of plastic. It appears that a tie wrap that was holding a spark plug wire broke and fell in to the air intake and was carried to the carburetor. The tie wrap wedge between the throttle plate causing the high RPMs.

Well I guess its better to have the throttle stuck open rather then stuck closed.

Bob
 
Richard said:
Sounds like an ASRS report and a good talking with your A&P.
Click to expand...

I imagine the A&P has already had a good talk with himself; he could just as easily have said that the linkage was binding, there was a piece of filter, there was (fill in blank with name of inncuous material which would never be Mr. Mechanic's fault) in there.

His full disclosure of the actual cause is reasonable evidence ofhis commitment.
 
I agree that his honesty goes a long way towards reassurance. Never had this problem with a plane, but I had a carb rebuilt on a pickup truck - afterwards every so often when I turned left, I'd hear a rattling sound (like you ran a stick along a metal picket fence while driving alongside it). Sometimes the engine would start running really rough for a while, then it would all clear up.
I took it to my regular mech (not the one that did the carb work). He saw a shiny new nut on one of the carb attachment bolts and went "uh huh". He took off the intake manifold and retrieved the nut that was banging around (and getting caught in one of) the valves. The thing was worn down to about half its size and very shiny! I took it to the garage that did the carb work and showed it to them. The head guy (who, up to that point, was a friend of mine) denied ANY involvement coming from his shop. I convinced him to at least ask the mechanic who did the work. That guy admitted to losing a nut that he never could find. I said that the right thing to do would have been to do whatever was necessary to find the thing, given that it was lost next to an opening in the engine. My "friend"'s response? "Well, that would mean opening up the engine!".

Well, DUH. That's where the dang nut was, wasn't it?

Sheesh. ok, rant off... :D
 
SCCutler said:
His full disclosure of the actual cause is reasonable evidence ofhis commitment.
Click to expand...

I knew there was a reason I liked you professionally as well!
Here we have an attorney encouraging common sense and reason, and not suggesting a lawsuit!!
:drink:
 
I adopted a policy of going through the plane with a fine tooth comb after each maintenance foray. I've found a bunch of stuff as a result... including metal filings (drill shavings) in the airbox after some repairs were made to the alt air door. Those would have done a bit of damage on their way through the engine and turbo.
 
When I got my plane home from the previous owner last fall a medium sized needle-nosed pliers fell out from behind the instrument panel while I was taxiing in.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I knew there was a reason I liked you professionally as well!
Here we have an attorney encouraging common sense and reason, and not suggesting a lawsuit!!
:drink:
Click to expand...
Well, Dave, it's like this:

You sue for two reasons: one, to get "made whole" (paid back for your losses); two, to promote better future behavior by punishing prior bad behavior.

In this instance, there were no actual damages to recover (spare me any suggestions of "mental anguish"), and hence, you have the punitive aspect to consider, and who could believe that the mechanic did not say to himself, "Holy crap, we got lucky here!" He learned a lesson which will not soon be forgotten.

Of course, an aggressive plaintiffs' lawyer could drag him through 18 months or so of living hell, extract a figurative pound of flesh from him, and possibly cause yet another qualified A&P to figure out that he can make more down at the Ford store, with less liability; at best, rates go up again.

Physics and life both teach us that every action has an equal and opposite reaction; just because you, yourself, might not be the direct recipient of the reaction, does not mean it did not occur.

In any event, this approach may preclude me ever being wealthy, but I sleep OK at night.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top