Hi
I think my fuel caps are leaking fuel as im using more fuel than I should be I have a cessna 170 Ragwing both tanks are original Big and small and the seals, one old cork and one a suspect hand cut rubber.
can you buy new seals for them or must u replace the entire cap. They are a screw on type cap. Where can you get them from and what is a good way of checking for the leak other than keeping check of fuel usage.(there is no magor stain )
When you say "screw on type cap", you mean the whole cap turns & screws into the tank? If so, then I think you don't have standard ragwing (1948 model) caps. All the ragwing caps I've seen fit into place in the tank neck, then a center piece turns & locks the cap down. Kinda like a latch mechanism on a submarine hatch.
This is kinda weird because common wisdom sez the three 12-1/2 gallon tanks used in the ragwing 170 were surplus 120/140 tanks- yet the 120/140 doesn't use this sort of cap.
Anyway, the caps on my ragwing use a BAOR (big-ass o-ring) for a gasket. And a small o-ring for a seal around the center screw-down shaft.
Hope this makes some kinda sense, and is helpful.
You should be able to tell if the caps are leaking, if so there should be a visible fuel strain (brown for cargas, blue for 100LL) on the top of the wings trailing the caps.
Steve If you dont have fuel stains behind the caps I doubt if you are losing much fuel overboard. But if your caps are leaking be extremly careful about getting water in the tanks if the plane ever sits in the rain. The location of the sumps in a ragwing are such that the tanks can hold quite a bit of water and it not come out the sumps. The tanks can hold enough water to fill the gascolator so be real careful 170s are not good gliders. The maintinance book published by the association contains a good article on the fuel cap rebuild for ragwings plus lots of other information every 170 owner should know. Bill K
