Contact Diamond Aire...they replaced mine.
Mark

Jeff to the rescue! Attached is a proof of life pic. I'll post a few more soon. Thanks for prompt response. Time to order the gasket

Attached is the leaky gascolator pic. I've received the gasket from McFarlane and am ready to repair. Does anyone have an idea of how much labor is required to change it out?

It's like building a $1mm house in a trailer park. He ain't never gonna get anything close to what he has in it.

I'd did it once with my mechanic a long time ago, as I recall it is just remove the nut on the bottom and the bowl comes off, the cork gasket is on the upper lip of the bowl (most likely stuck to the inside the gascolator frame) and the small gasket is under the acorn nut.

Remember do not over tighten as you will deform the bowl and don't forget to safety wire it when you are done.

Check the inside of the bowl for corrosion-they tend to get pin holes. I converted mine to Navajo strainers. They are slightly larger and have a better sealing system (“O” ring in a groove vs. a gasket that compresses with the nut on the bottom). The bowl is aluminum and does not corrode as bad. I used bushings to reduce the line to the correct size for the Aztec.

It holds more volume which is important if you don’t have the Eagle fuel drain kits installed. The bottom corner of each fuel cell can hold more volume of undrainable water than the small bowl can handle. Piper did come out with an improvement kit consisting of an aluminum kidney shaped welded bowl because of the known undrainable water issue. It was crap though and they stopped offering them.

There was an AD to but a wedge in the low corners of the bladder but it caused more problems and was rescinded. Putting a wedge in underneath the outside of the bladder has also been tried but it causes the vertical corner of the cell to compress and fold causing it to crack and separate.

There has been quite a few accidents from water contamination on the 23 series and I am very surprised that a new AD such as mandating the Eagle drains has not been issued.

The drains next to the main strainer in the photo in the previous post marked inboard/outboard is a bit misleading. It only drains the line just upstream of the strainer. Everything comes through the same finger screen that feeds the engines. Unfortunately there are no factory installed sump drains in a PA-23 like most aircraft have.


In reference to the quote about a 400k Aztec, what else will fill the mission? And sell for less than that when comparably equipped or restored. There has been a few sold for over $300k and I am sure there will be more. I would not be afraid to invest in upgrades on an Aztec. Good ones are getting harder to find and I expect them to increase in value.

Jeff and Norman, thanks for the response. Sounds fairly straightforward. Hopefully It goes smoothly...usually doesn't. Keep you advised

It seems the acorn nut on the gascolator was not torqued tight enough. One quarter additional turn seems to have done trick.

For now! Safety wired right? If overtighten it will deform that sealing surface and dimple it in, once that surface isn’t flat ypure in trouble

the washer and acorn nut should be lubricated before assembly, so the surfaces slide together without chewing up the washer.

Glen, the safety wire is on the spring drain, but the acorn nut is not safety wired. Is this correct? See pic above

the acorn nut on mine is safety wired

Thanks Jeff

Change it out to an SA3-00 by Steves Aircraft. It will be an easy maintenance item afterwards.

Gascolator on it's way. Should've gone that route from the get go. Missed a trip to the Texas Coast trying to save a few bucks.