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Spent 9 hours chasing a fuel leak on a 737 that turned out to be a $4 O-ring
Last Tuesday I pulled a 737 into the hangar at our Fresno base for a fuel leak on the left wing root, and I had the whole panel off for 9 hours checking lines and fittings with a flashlight and dye. Turns out the leak was just a dried out O-ring on a drain valve that costs about $4, and I only found it after my lead told me to pressurize the tank and watch it drip. How do you guys keep from going down the rabbit hole on simple stuff like this?
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lucashenderson26d ago
That line about only finding it after your lead said to pressurize the tank got me. I do the same thing at home. My kitchen sink dripped for a month and I tore apart the whole trap twice before I noticed the actual leak was a $2 gasket where the sprayer hose screws in. Same with my truck last winter, I swapped the battery and the alternator before a buddy pointed out a loose ground wire I could have fixed in five minutes. Feels like once you decide something is a big job, your brain just refuses to check the cheap and easy stuff first. Now I try to ask myself "what's the dumbest possible cause" before I touch anything.
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