Dean and I did the fuel flow testing today. We raised the nose to about 17 degrees and disconected the fuel line at the engine. We had 1 gallon in the header and about 2 gallons in each wing tank. We turned on the aux pump and timed the fuel flow for 1 min 46 sec. We had drained 135.8 oz which was 77.6 oz for one minute. That worked out to .606 gallon per minute or 36 gallon per hour. More than enough or better than the 125% of the max fuel flow of 9 gallons at 3300 RPM which worked out to 11.25 gallons. The next test was at level attitude was a bit better at 38 gallons per hour. Also, we noted that during this test the 'fuel low level' light began to flash indicating that the header was less than full or the wing tanks were at unuseable fuel. It seems that each tank's unuseable is slightly more than a gallon. After testing was complete we filled 15 gallons back into the tank and tested the aux pump. We saw leakage around the top of the pump at the copper sealing ring. After tightening the nut we continued to have a leak. We unscrewed the fuel manifold from the pump and it was clear the thing had been cross threaded. There was remnants of the soft pump housing in the threads. That was keeping it from seating completely against the copper ring. Called Ray at UL to see if there was a fix and apparently there is none short of a new pump. Grrr. So went to Wickes and ordered a new pump and sealing rings. Another expensive error.
