Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

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25J - Jim
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Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

My "new" Bonanza is plagued by fuel leaks. Just about every time I start a flight the engine will crank to start the plane then stop. After that the aux fuel pump will not operate. The Preflight was Ok and all breakers were/are Ok. The mechanic in the Hangar says I have a Fuel Leak (shown in red). All other items are Ok. Unfortunately, the mechanic cannot fix the fuel leak problem. Clicking on the text (many times) will not clear the fault. Repair All does nothing as well. Moving back to the cockpit just to see if it was fixed but not being shown as such, I tried the aux fuel pump again. Aux fuel pump still would not operate. Nothing I tried in the cockpit, Hangar, or Mini-Controls (Damage On or Off, C&D On or Off, or Auto Start) will cure the Fuel Leak problem. I have not tried changing Used to New or hitting the Reset button). However, clicking End Flight and then clicking Fly Now in the FSX preview window will cure the problem for that flight most of the time. A complete restart of FSX is needed if that doesn't work.

Also, if the mechanic can fix/clear the fuel leak problem (very rare in my case), I have noticed that the fuel tank selected (left in this case) will be empty after coming back into the cockpit from the Hangar. In those cases I can select the other tank or refill the tank in question and the engine will start. On a side note: I find it interesting that fuel leaks cannot be caught in a preflight inspection (gas smells). I can rationalize a fuel tank going from full to empty coming out of the Hangar as action needed to fix the leak required the tank emptied.

My system: FSX acceleration (Boxed) running on Windows 7 Professional. Mini Controls is set to Auto - C&D off, Used, and Damage On. ORBX is my only addon. All flights are started at Friedrick, IN (just a dirt runway with nothing fancy anywhere around) in the Ultralight. I then select airport and plane. This has never given me problems with the A2A 172, 182, Cherokee, Comanche, or J3. Currently the Bonanza has roughly 3 hours on it.

Hope there's a solution to this.

alan CXA651
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi 25j jim.
Have you run the updater since purchase , there has been two updates sofar , also i use FSXA on win 7 , and on first install i could not fix anything and most of the instruments was broken , the cure was an uninstall and reinstall , my anti virus is AVAST and is set to ignor anything flight sim related.
Also always check your CB`s if anything is not working , it is not obvious when they are tripped , until you hover the mouse over them and see the tool tip saying on or off.
Mark sure you are not starting the flight from a saved flight as the default flight , as this can cause issues, always make sure the default flight is the trike at friday harbour.
regards alan. 8)
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cristi.neagu
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by cristi.neagu »

Had the same fuel leak issue in P3D too, in this post. Couldn't get to the bottom of it. For me it was showing up in the engine bay.

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hi Jim,

As mentioned above, please can you confirm if you've updated the Bonanza since installation? It sounds likely some older files on your system weren't overwritten when you installed the Bonanza. More information on the update and how to apply it can be found here here.

Thanks,
Nick

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25J - Jim
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

Nick,

Yes, update 18.9.20.1 was installed. Installed same time the Bonanza was originally installed as after install a message said an update was available. BTW: all breakers are very closely checked when this occurs.

Jim

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by Nick - A2A »

Okay, thanks Jim.

Please can you try a clean reinstall of the Bonanza assuming you haven't already tried this.

You could also try backing-up and deleting the files in "Documents\A2A\FSX\Bonanza35" just in case something there has become corrupted. This will reset your Bonanza to a 'new' state.

Thanks,
Nick

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25J - Jim
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

Nick,

New information. I believe the persistent fuel leak problem is related to conducting the preflight.

Out of frustration I started skipping the preflight and just tried to start the plane; if it started I flew it. Every time I did this the plane would start without any problems. Wow! So, I did 6 flights (plane in a complete C&D state) by doing only a spot plane view looking for obvious problems (i.e. tape over vent ports, wheel chocks, pitot cover, tie downs, etc.). Anything that needed action was handled by Mini Controls. No starting problems or fuel leak issues were experienced. Oh what a joy!

I repeated these 6 flights and conducted a preflight before each flight. Five out of six times I experienced a fuel leak problem that could not be cured without clicking End Flight and then Clicking Fly Now in the FSX preview window. I should mention that when I come back in after clicking Fly Now I immediately try to start the engine with no Preflight Check conducted. This may explain why in my earlier post that the action taken to End Flight or Restart FSX would clear the problem as I would not run a Preflight Check after those actions. When I perform the Preflight Check I click on all the "Gray Boxes". For the fuel check I click Drain More twice (BTW: I am using a tip tank model). Checking for Pitot heat is conducted by returning to the cockpit and turning the Battery and Pitot Heat Switch on for approx. 15 seconds then turning them both off. I then check for temperature.

I will opt for your second suggestion and set the plane to New and see if that cures the problem.

My fingers are crossed.

Jim

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25J - Jim
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

Nick,

Here's a quick update on my problem. Deleting "Documents\A2A\FSX\Bonanza35" didn't cure the problem. So much for option 2. I will uninstall and reinstall the Bonanza this weekend.

Question: Do I only need to Uninstall from the Windows Control Panel?

Jim

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hi Jim - thanks for trying that.

Yes, a reinstall via the Windows Control Panel certainly won't do any harm. I've have tried once or twice to reproduce the issue you describe, but so far without success I'm afraid.

Please keep us posted as to whether the issue persists after the reinstall.

Thanks,
Nick

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25J - Jim
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

Nick,

Unstalled the Bonazna and reinstalled today. The latest update 18.9.29.1 was added. As before the new non-mipped textures were added.
First preflight, startup and flight after install was flawless. Unfortunately, after that the fuel leak problem resurfaced. Engine would try to start then stop. The Aux Fuel Pump would no longer operate (all breakers OK). Going to the Hangar showed the plane had a fuel leak. Two new aspects to the problem showed up.

First: The frequency of the problem is still high but now when I try to clear the fuel leak in the Hangar the red text will dissapear as if it had been fixed but then show up again roughly 2 to 3 seconds later. This could be repeated again and again by clicking on the red fuel leak text. The fault cannot be fixed in the Hangar. Whatever is triggering the fuel leak is not being cleared. However, as before, clicking End Flight and then clicking Fly Now in the FSX preview window will cure the problem for that flight. The engine will start after this action but no preflight is conduct when this action is needed.

Second: After a clean startup of FSX and conducting a preflight check I had a FSX Fatal Error during engine cranking. The engine was cranking then stopped like it does when I get a fuel leak problem but instead got the FSX Fatal Error screen. The Event Log showed the faulting module name "A2A_Accusim.DLL Version 18.9.18.0". File is located in the FSX Gauge A2A folder.

The grelims are active here and I need some help flushing them out. I should note that the first flight after the fresh install did not have tip tanks installed. Tip tanks were installed after landing from the first flight and before complete aircraft shut down (i.e. control locks, tie downs, chocks, etc.).

Jim

r601020
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by r601020 »

I have the same fuel leak problem in Prepar3d.

I can appreciate that not everyone has this glitch, but there's enough threads on it now that it should warrant some attention.
Richard

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by Nick - A2A »

Guys,

I've been trying to reproduce this issue with my FSX installation, so far without success. Even after a few sim starts, each time performing the walkaround and draining fuel (including clicking the "drain more" option a few times, even though no water was present) I haven't seen a fuel leak reported subsequently, or had any problems starting the engine.

However Jim, your post made me realise that yesterday's update for the FSX version of the Bonanza included a slightly outdated version of the "A2A_Accusim.dll". Although I don't think this is likely to have anything to do with the issue you're reporting, I'd advise using the "Bonanza Check For Updates" icon again just to get the most recent version of the dll installed. Apologies for the inconvenience but there's no need to reinstall the non-mipmapped textures again; the update won't overwrite them.

Thanks,
Nick

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25J - Jim
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

Nick,

I will run the updater and see what happens after that. I have not seen a FSX Fatal Error screen in over a year. That was a surprise and totally unexpected. Needless to say I am becoming disappointed.

Will you have your software folks take a look at this issue. The fact that whatever is triggering a fuel leak cannot be cleared by Hangar action (clicking on the red text) is very puzzling. Having the red fuel leak text disappear and then reappear 2 to 3 seconds later (repeatedly) sure sounds like a reset failure somewhere in the fuel leak cycle. This should provide a clue as where the culprit may be hiding whether in your software or on my system. I could live with a high fuel leak failure rate if I could at least clear them in the Hangar.

I will provide an update later today.

Jim

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Scott - A2A
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by Scott - A2A »

The fuel leak problem that can't be repaired happens when something gets corrupted in the system. Jim, does this problem still ONLY happen when you do a preflight? This could be caused by something outside of Accu-Sim mucking up SimConnect so it's important to look at the entire system and not just our software too as we can't reproduce this problem.

Scott.
A2A Simulations Inc.

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25J - Jim
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Re: Persistent Fuel Leak Problem (FSX)

Post by 25J - Jim »

Scott,

Thanks for checking in. I fly your planes so I can do the preflights and enjoy all immersion that provides. Your planes are my favorite and your systems modelling is second to none. So, to answer your question: I don't know as I always do a preflight unless this problem surfaces. I pretty much fly by the book.

I can do some testing without doing a preflight. I am thinking 10 flight no preflight with just a manual start. Plane would not have tie downs, chocks, pitot cover, etc. Basically, start and fly. Everything would be done in the VC. A second idea would be to just use auto-start.

Do you have a suggested approach?

Jim

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