[Curt C]

What does the OEM efi fuel tank baffle look like? Is it just a cup / well? Or does it have holes and or slits? Search of Google images unsuccessful.

 

[toddturbo]

it is a metal box that is welded to the bottom of the fuel tank just below the fuel pump hole. They are commonly broken, rusted. I have one at home I can try to get a pic of if nobody else has one.

 

[Curt C]

Thanks Todd. So no holes or slits to allow fuel to flow into? Only way fuel can get in is to splash over sides or return line spewing fuel back in?

 

[rednotch]

Just a spot welded "baffle" that likes to break free. It cuts down on slosh, fuel flows into it and out.

 

[Jack Hidley]

The stock tank has a complete mini-sump in it. There is a line that comes out the right side of it for fuel to flow into it. That line wraps around the inside of the sump.

The sump is soldered to the tank in two locations. From the fuel boiling problems that these cars have, the tank expands and contracts until it breaks the solder joints and the sump can just bang around inside the tank. It normally takes out the fuel pump as a result after this. Once it is broken off of the tank, the tank is junk.

 

[Tob*]

I went through all the popular tank choices a few months back and the sump/baffle was foremost on my mind.

The stock tank, as Jack shows above is actually a nice piece. Heavier gauge than aftermarket, with the proper crimps where the tank straps need to reside. The sump is a sound design but the production means of affixing it into place, not so much.

The tank "rednotch" shows in the linked Pro-M video is not a stock OEM tank. It is made in Canada (Montreal) by Spectra Premium. The gauge thickness is slightly less than the OEM tank.

I discussed the tank baffle with an engineer there. He wasn't aware of typical starvation issues with their design. It is indeed a bowl, fed by two ~7/16" holes in the bottom. Overall, the tank is a nice piece from the aftermarket.

Lastly, what may be the most popular aftermarket tank sold out there is made by ACP in Taiwan. These are typical of LRS, etc.

These come with a nice interior/exterior coating (the Spectra comes with nothing more than a slathering of oil, for example). They are thin gauge, with some minor crimp errors, and less than factory wide tank flanges in some spots. The baffle is the least desirable of the three, IMHO. It is literally a bowl with a single ~9/16" hole in the side of it.

 

[Patrick Olsen]

Excellent info, Tob*, thanks for sharing!

 

[Curt C]

Yes. Excellent. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks All