What's that? Found in engine compartment

Chrisgoesflying

Chrisgoesflying

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Chrisgoesflying
I found one of these (see photos attached) in the engine compartment of my Piper Cherokee today. It was just sitting in there, I believe on the oil filter. It feels soft when you push it with your index finger and thumb. Nothing looked amiss under the hood. Any idea what this is, where it comes from and if it's reason for concern/needs replacement?
 

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Usually a rubber or plastic bushing in a bulkhead that protects a cable, wire, or hose. One example:

upload_2022-12-18_22-32-21.jpeg
 
Bill said:
Usually a rubber or plastic bushing in a bulkhead that protects a cable, wire, or hose. One example:

View attachment 113176
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Thanks. Wonder where it came from. Most of all, it's fully intact so it must have just come loose from somewhere instead of broken off. I assume there are many grommets in the engine compartment of a Piper Cherokee so finding the one this one came from is like looking for a needle in a haystack?
 
A Cherokee is a very simple aircraft and there cannot be many of these. There are very few things in your engine compartment that are not important. I would spend the time figuring out where it came from.
 
As @weilke said it's half of a grommet. It's used to protect a wire or hose where it goes through a thin sharp edged piece of sheet metal; for example, an ignition lead going through the baffling. Look for something passing through a hole that doesn't have such protection.

However, unless it's also split radially, it can't have fallen off a wire that's still attached at both ends, so it may be a misplaced half of one that your A&P replaced recently.
 
I don't think it is a grommet..it looks more like part of a sealing washer/bonded washer. The top metal part of the washer is missing.
 
It’s felt. Center hole is tiny. The entire thing is rather small. The diameter of the whole thing is about the size of a penny.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
The diameter of the whole thing is about the size of a penny.
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What work was performed in the area over the past 2 months? If I had to guess its an anti-chafe washer or simple cushion washer. The "tiny" hole in the middle is the mystery though. 1/8"? Smaller or larger?
 
Bell206 said:
What work was performed in the area over the past 2 months? If I had to guess its an anti-chafe washer or simple cushion washer. The "tiny" hole in the middle is the mystery though. 1/8"? Smaller or larger?
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Don’t know the exact size of the hole and I’m terrible at guessing those things. Two months ago my mechanic did an annual, changed the oil and filter and replaced the exhaust stack due to a crack. Since then, I flew the plane from western Canada all the way to Florida with no issues.
 
mondtster said:
Is it a felt from the tach cable?
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I think we got a winner here:



u85012_014__23036.1453762716.1280.1280.jpg
 
Wing attach bushing for a ‘62-79 Cherokee. You might want to put that back on. So your wing don’t fall off.
 
I don’t have a tach cable as I have a digital tach installed. Having said that, it could still be that since we changed tach in the spring and maybe this thing has never been removed and now just fell off.
 
Bell206 said:
Or it could have got lost in the past. And when the last maintenance was performed could have simply been knocked loose from its hiding place... which has been known to happen on occasion.
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Or that. I need the brakes serviced anyways so the cowl is coming off. The mechanic said he'll take a look but also doesn't think it's anything significant or something to worry about.

texasclouds said:
Wing attach bushing for a ‘62-79 Cherokee. You might want to put that back on. So your wing don’t fall off.
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Everybody knows the wing attach bushing for a '62 - '79 Cherokee are in the tail section, not in the engine cowl. You're confusing the Piper setup with the Cessna setup for wing attach bushings.
 
Doug Reid said:
I don't think it is a grommet..it looks more like part of a sealing washer/bonded washer. The top metal part of the washer is missing.
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On second thought, looks more like a rubber washer.
 
I maintain a Commander 112 and there are two rubber bumpers that the lower cowling presses against. Look just like that but about one inch diameter. washer and nut hold it on.
 
Definitely not rubber. It's soft and feels more like carpet. Where in the engine would I find a felt washer?
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
Definitely not rubber. It's soft and feels more like carpet. Where in the engine would I find a felt washer?
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Well, since “felt” is past tense, you’d have to feel a washer in the engine compartment first. Then you could tell us about the felt washer and where it was…
 
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