Rant: Took me 3 hours to find a hidden leak on a 737 fuel line

I was working on a 737-800 over at Denver last week and could not find a slow fuel drip near the number 2 engine. Turned out it was a cracked fitting hiding under a wire bundle I had already checked twice. Three hours of my day gone because I didn't pull the bundle back far enough the first time. Has anyone else wasted half a shift on a leak that was hiding in plain sight?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan10010d ago

@elliotm57 I heard a mechanic say finding leaks is like a treasure hunt where the treasure is your lost sanity.

elliotm5710d ago

Found a leak once that was hiding behind my own flashlight, felt real smart that day.

ivan7748d ago

Kinda makes you wonder who designed these birds... @nathan100's treasure hunt comment hits close to home. Three hours is brutal though, least you found it before the thing dripped on the tarmac and made a bigger mess. Wire bundles are the worst for hiding stuff, I always double pull them now after a similar runaround on a CRJ fuel line.