That stubborn O-ring on a Piper Cherokee's fuel selector valve

Could not get the old one out without risking a scratch. Used a tiny bit of dental floss to hook and pull it. Anyone got a better trick for those tight spaces?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.jessica22d agoTop Commenter

Remembered a guy at the field using a bent paperclip to fish a washer out of a Cessna's cowling. He had it taped to a chopstick for extra reach. Worked like a charm until he dropped the whole thing in there too.

margaret_nelson22d ago

Classic move right there, @taylor.jessica. I've been that guy more times than I care to admit. You start with a simple tool to fix a small problem, then you rig up some crazy extension to make it work. The whole time you're just begging to lose your new contraption in the engine. Next thing you know, you're fishing for a paperclip, a washer, and a chopstick. It's a special kind of genius that always backfires.

amymartinez16d ago

My uncle's hangar had a whole drawer labeled "lost tools" just for stuff that fell into engines. He swore every mechanic builds a better mousetrap until the engine eats that too. Honestly the real skill is knowing when to stop adding extensions before you lose your entire toolkit. I saw a guy spend three hours trying to magnet fish a socket wrench out of a Piper's belly.