Fuel Vent Check Valves

65Citabria

65Citabria

New member
Hi all. I own a '65 7ECA with 18-gal wing tanks. Ever since I purchased, filling anywhere above half tanks would result in fuel gushing out of the fuel vent line while taxiing and especially in flight. It is a lot of fuel. Doing some service manual research, talking with ACA and investigating my plane resulted in what appears is missing fuel vent check valves. Below are images of my wing tank exit port compared to one on ACA's factory floor.

I have two on order from ACA now (PN 2-2200-1). For any of you that have had to replace these, any advice on the procedure? Thanks.

ACA New Tanks:
F5vxEOQ.jpg


My Tanks:
BrHpa9l.jpg
 
I have not done it, but looks to me like you may need 20 inspection holes, one aft and one fwd to get 2 hands and 2 wrenches on the fittings.
Bill B
 
Haha...yes Bill, I think you're right. My A&P has already mentioned cutting fabric. Considering the amount of fuel currently spewing out the vent, I'm ok with a couple patches.
 
Just to close the loop on this post, my A&P/IA was able to install both left and right fuel vent check valves through just the one inspection hole on each wing without having to cut fabric. He did have to get fairly innovative with the routing of the lines, however.

Two photos below showing the final install. Note the check valve housing did protrude onto the wing fabric and would have eventually worn a hole through. Current solution is a couple silcone wear pads. Will monitor this over time.

Also attaching a quick video showing how much fuel was sloshing out of the vent line during flight. It was even worse during taxi. So glad to have this fix in place now.

o3SCP0I.png


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Matt, great job by your mechanic!! Thank you for posting the resolution to your problem. It is so helpful when people not only post there problem, but also the resolution.
 
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