Mooney Engine Problem in Flight - Advise

In article 05mvd.4322$lZ6.4235@trnddc02, wrote:

Thanks to everybody for your responses. Sounds like the general consensus is
either water in the fuel or some other fuel contamination. I'm taking the
plane up to LASAR to have them drain the tanks and go through the whole fuel
system. Hopefully they can find something that would explain what happened.
This sure makes me think twice about VFR on top or even night flying.

I will post what they hopefully find.

Paul,
1967 Mooney M20F

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:44:33 GMT, (Paul
Smedshammer) wrote:

A couple of folks have mentioned induction icing. Being a relatively new pilot
to the Mooney and more specifically fuel injection, I wasn't aware that icing
was a big problem in the fuel injection engines. There is no "carb. heat" as
there is no carburetor. Maybe somebody can elaborate and educate me on icing
in the induction system and what you can do to avoid it.

Paul,

I doubt it was induction icing.

I have flown my M20E -- which has the same engine -- for 2000+ hours mostly
in the NorthEast. I have been in visible moisture not only at temps in the
60's, but also down to the 30's, with NO sign of icing.

Some folk have had problems with ice impacting on the air filter and
cutting of air flow that way. In that case, if the alternate air door
doesn't open, the engine dies.

However, that is not going to happen in 60° weather!

Again, I think you had fuel contamination or some other cause of blockage
in the fuel lines or injector nozzles. The worst case would be from
sealant breaking down in the tanks. If that's the case, you may find some
stuff on the fuel filter. You can also sometimes see debris in the fuel
when you drain the tanks.

While it could have been water, in my experience, if you had enough water
to cause an engine problem lasting as long as yours did, you should have
seen some when you sumped the tanks. (Unless it was all water and you
missed it).


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)