Sunday August 24, 2025
Pre-inspection and Pre-Flight Miscellaneous

I subscribed to Garmin's VFR plus database update tier and updated the G3x Touch displays.

I made up a map of the fuse boxes, so I know quickly what circuit is where.

Then I finished making up an equipment list for the plane. It includes most removable items, their model number, weight, and datum.

Then I worked on the shunt, which has not been displaying properly. First, I made sure the fuses on the shunt wires were intact, which they were. Then I crawled under the panel and pulled the connector from the GEA and tested that the shunt wires were intact between the firewall and the GEA, which they were. Then, I switched them over to the SHUNT 2 input just in case the problem was SHUNT 1. Then, I reconnected everything and hooked up my power supply to the alternator side of the shunt to test it. Everything worked!

My theory is that the wires were backwards, so it was reading negative amps, but displaying zero. It's either that or the SHUNT 1 input is broken. In any case, it works now.

Then I fired up the engine again to test the shunt and to see if I had resolved the small oil leak. Nope--still leaking. This time it looked more certain that the leak was between the manifold and the oil supply line. Unfortunately, to remove the angle fitting, it required removing the manifold from the firewall, which is a bit of a pain with the nuts on the inside--I should have installed nutplates here.

In any case, I got it off, removed the fitting, cleaned it, reinstalled it with fresh permatex make-a-gasket, and then reinstalled the manifold. I'll retest to see if I've fixed the leak now once the gasket cures.

My airworthiness inspection is tomorrow!

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