Spent a whole afternoon chasing a 'hydraulic leak' that was just a loose cap

Got a call for a wet spot under a Cessna 172's left main gear area. Grabbed my dye kit, got the gear up on jacks, and spent about 3 hours cleaning and inspecting every line and fitting. My boss walks over, looks at the puddle, and just tightens the fill cap on the reservoir by hand. The whole 'leak' was fluid sloshing out from a half-turn loose cap. Wasted half a day and a $40 dye charge. Anyone else ever get fooled by something that simple?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_martin1613d ago

Dude, that sucks lol. Ive done the same thing before chasing an oil leak on a tractor that was just a loose dipstick. Its the worst feeling when you realize you spent all that time for nothing. Your boss probably had a good laugh about it later though. At least you learned to check the simple stuff first now, right?

rose_young2mo ago

Honestly, that's the kind of thing that makes you want to kick a toolbox. Tbh, I gotta ask, did your boss at least give you a hard time about it, or was he cool since it was such a simple fix? Ngl, it feels worse when they just shake their head and walk away without saying anything. Makes you wonder how many times we all overthink a problem and miss the obvious spot right in front of us. Bet you triple-check every cap before pulling out the dye kit now.

michael5192mo ago

Kick a toolbox" seems a bit much. It's just a radiator cap. Boss probably forgot about it five minutes later. We all miss simple stuff sometimes, it's not that deep.