My lead mechanic said to never trust a new seal out of the box, and a 737's hydraulic pump proved him right

He told me this five years ago when I was a new hire. Last Tuesday, I replaced a pump on a 737-800 and the new O-ring looked perfect. I almost just slapped it in. I checked it anyway, and there was a tiny, almost invisible nick right on the sealing surface. If I hadn't caught it, we would have had a massive leak on the next flight test. Who else has a rule from an old head that saved your skin like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

max_ramirez485d ago

My buddy in heavy equipment had a foreman who always said to check new hydraulic hoses for liner cracks. He laughed it off until a brand new hose blew on a test run. The inner liner had a split you couldn't see from the outside. It sprayed fluid everywhere and shut the job down for half a day. That old guy's rule about inspecting every single new part became gospel after that. It seems paranoid until you see it fail.

the_lucas5d ago

New stuff fails way more often than people admit, it's not just old gear.