Fuel leaks.



Robert T

Are there typical locations for corrosion or fuel leaks?

I personally have not found any of the items listed so far to be unreasonably expensive. I'll give some recent examples:

New paint, entire aircraft: $40k (sometimes can be lower)

Right wing boot R&R including corrosion removal parts and labor: $5,660

Both wings, both horizontal stabs, and vertical stab deice boot replacement with corrosion removal as needed parts and labor (entire aircraft): $25k

Aft spar fuel leak parts and labor (very hard job): $6k

Leading edge fuel leaks, heated leading edge fuel leaks (every dome nut leaked or blown out due to wrong size screws used), wing root fuel leaks, wing access panel fuel leaks (very hard job overall): $10,448

Wing fuel access panel new panel, R&R dome nuts, paint to match (easy): $900

Goodrich brake overhaul: $6k per side + more if something is broken

Goodyear brakes overhauled: $2,100 per side + more if something is broken (not the rapco kit, sent out and overhauled w/8130)

I can post more prices if people are interested that's just what I have on hand from recent work based on the topics posted thus far. Engines can be more expensive but I personally have not seen that yet and we do a lot of engine work. A pressurized twin costs much more to operate than these airplanes, IMO. Tarver's parts are a godsend in keeping the fleet going.

(Edit, grammar)

All of these airplanes Leak a little bit of fuel. The best thing is to not leave them topped off. I would say there’s no typical fuel leak on them. It’s pretty random.

It’s very hard to get corrosion on one of these airplanes unless you just leave it outside and have passengers that pee in the belly in the back . Excellent epoxy factory protection.

Well, maybe.

My plane leaked like crazy, at least 15 places.

With relatively little effort and replacing any inspection panels that leaked with the new triple sealed versions, my leaks all went away.

The top one is the triple sealed new ones, the lower one is the older single sealed type. I have replaced about 25% of my panels, the rest are stock and don't leak.

Also, using the petrolatum (industrial Vaseline) helps. It is critical to use the right torque. If a mechanic just drives the screws in with a driver drill, it WILL leak, you need to hand tighten it with a torque screwdriver and do it in the MM specified pattern.

My plane doesn't leak, even full fuel. It has over 10,000 hours on it, so not without some use.

Mike C.

Thanks for the info. I’d be interested in seeing any numbers you have.

Did you order these from Textron or were they salvage parts?

Fuel leaks usually start getting expensive about the time you have to call in SWAT or one of the other tank companies.


Robert T

Did you order these from Textron or were they salvage parts?

New panels from Textron.

They are $200 to $500 depending on size, location.

The panels are machined skins which vary in thickness, so they are more complex than they first appear. Then they have over molded seal ribs.

For what they are, they don't cost all that much.

My contacts tell me Textron sells a ton of them.

This is the most common size on my plane, they had 38 in stock:

Mike C.

There are a number of salvage operations out there with Citation parts.

This year alone, four V/Ultras have been taken apart at salvage yards that I know of, so that's 4 airplanes worth of parts freshly available for my model.

Parts I have bought at salvage:

Fuel shutoff valve
Hydraulic pump
RH lower TR bucket
Inlet deice valves (2)
Fuel low level switch
Windshield bleed air pressure switch
Fire bottle
Oxygen bottle
Windshield deice temp control box

For my plane, there really is no part you can't find. Ironically, it is easier to find parts for the legacy series than for the 525 series, so the "old airplane means hard to get parts, new airplane is easy" idea is actually backwards.

Mike C.

Are there any salvage yards that do the 525’s that you folks know of to put on my list?

I'd ask any of the salvage yards that do the legacy series. There are CJ airframes that have been parted out, so there should be some parts out there.

Mike C.

The single biggest issue is picking the wrong shop. An owner contacted us over the weekend. Legacy Citation, nice plane, no major squawks.

Scope of work: Phase 1-5. No upgrades. No avionics.

Final invoice: $179,913.58

There’s a number of chop shops out there with parts available. It is a blessing to have options. That said, Tarver goes out of his way to support aircraft he has sold. In those instances he is very fair by a good margin. That has been my experience on many occasions.