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  1. #1

    Default 86 Fuel Tank - loose baffle

    From what I can find out, it appears to be a common problem for the solder to break, which originally held the baffle in place at the fuel pump in the tank, and the recomended fix is to buy a new fuel tank.
    Should have researched this nine years ago when I replaced the pump and thought it odd to have loose metal inside the fuel tank.
    The car has been on the road, only, for the past 3 years, and it has got me to wondering,
    - Is the loose baffle considered dangerous?
    - Does it really matter?
    -What is likely to happen if I don't replace the tank?

  2. #2

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    Nothing. just don't run the tank real low and potentially starve the pump. It's just there to provide a bit of a well of fuel around the pump at all times, to aid supply and cooling.

  3. #3
    FEP Power Member slow84lx's Avatar
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    Common problem. The noise of the baffle moving around may drive you nuts.

  4. #4

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    Many thanks, my wife will be pleased that I don't have to spend more money on the car.

  5. #5

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    If you track the car with the sump broken off of the bottom of the tank, the sump will bang against the fuel pump and eventually kill it. Ask me how I know.

    You will not be able to run the car lower than about 1/4 tank without having some degree of fuel starvation, during cornering, braking or acceleration.

    The most common cause of the solder breaking is from the fuel in the tank boiling. When this happens, the tank expands like a balloon and cracks the solder.
    Jack Hidley
    Maximum Motorsports Tech Support

  6. #6
    FEP Power Member qtrracer's Avatar
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    Agree with Jack, except when mine came loose it took the pump with it. Stranded me at an A/X event. Tow home was well over $100.

  7. #7
    FEP Super Member webestang's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by qtrracer View Post
    Agree with Jack, except when mine came loose it took the pump with it. Stranded me at an A/X event. Tow home was well over $100.
    When the baffles came loose in my 88 5.0 they took out my pump as well. And I had just filled up the tank..........

    Scotty
    1985 Fox Notch 4-banger Ranger tube header Eastwood Royal Blue
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    1999 Mustang Coupe V6 Auto Chrome Yellow -Daily Driver.
    Past Pony's.....
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    81 4-Eye Coupe 4-Banger 4-Speed-Man. White

  8. #8

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    Seen this multiple times. Good think is a repo tank is less than 100 bucks. Bad thing is if you get the China-made straps with it-your four letter vocabulary will be in full-swing!
    86 Capri-84 LTD a wagon-85 notch-86 notch

  9. #9
    FEP Super Member xctasy's Avatar
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    Mike, this is why Ford Australia used the Falcon XE wagon high and low pressure tank system, and why Holden used a stillage pot. The Fox Mustang system is great but the baffle and the fly tongue pick up and variations on the dual or single stage electric fuel pump require very carefull internal checks. Isuzu trucks and Holden Geminis used a combination of Opel and Bosch fuel tank pickup design. For a safe option, Ive always advocated a stillage pot like Opel made for the 1978 VB Commodore 2.5 E. Holden copied that. It works. Ford USAs system does the same thing, but it needs to have a better baffle and pickup that doesnt clog.

    If you have to, replace the internals by 100% safely cutting into the tank fron the top, and engineer a replacement that passes the "back if bourke" basics Ford Australia used. Ford didnt adopt the Fox platform...it re-engineered the Cortina and XC Falcon bases because the Fox was a finite element design, full of costly compromises that Holden and Mitsubishi spent a lot of money correcting on there Commodres and Sigmas. In the US, youve got gas stations everywhere; that allowed Ford to sell cars that had 12 US gallon fuel tanks that dont scavange to the last ounce of gas.The Mustangs post 1983 electric fuel tanks migrated with the first EFi 2.3 to single stage pumps.Unlike my 81 Stang, they dont syphon down to the last 30 mls if petrol. Everything fuel tank wise after 1981 in the Fox kingdom had major compromises.

    In your case, an Aussie market SN95 tank with its straps and pump might be your best option.

  10. #10
    FEP Super Member xctasy's Avatar
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    Mike see http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...-my-ford-truck

    Quote Originally Posted by Lubner View Post
    I installed a EFI tank in my 81 Ghia coupe it had the early small tank I was able to rework the straps and get it to fit.
    I read many threads about denting the tank and using late model EFI straps but I did not have to do either.
    I had to use longer bolts and spacers to get the straps to reach.





    Ford US skipped some parts with EFi system, simply because the US situation is far less demanding than the Strine situation.

    When it breaks, it shows up other problems that preventative engineering should have fixed.

    1978 VB Commodores, 1971-1982 Taunus/Cortinas and 1960 XK Falcons and got busted in half after normal development in Russleheim/Cologne West Germany and Fort Worth USA. The solution was a whole bunch of heavy duty stuff German Opels, Ford of Europe Ford compacts and US Falcons never got standard.

    The Opel fuel tank was designed in Germany, then, like Bosch fuel pumps and the later ABS units and Corvette PBR brakes, everything got tested in the Flinders Ranges and the gibber bound outback which breaks cars in half.

    Even at Lang Lang Proving ground, the toughest test track in the world, Holdens tests drivers cold break an import German or US car in about a morning worth of driving.

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