what exactly does it do? I have searched and couldn't find a straight answer.

and yes I know it leaks fuel, but that is not its INTENDED purpose.

 

ok I found out!!!! now, what are the effects of taking it off? besides less flames?

 

I have a banjo bolt instead of the PD and my car runs fine. The only advantages I can think of is that 100kmiles down the road it won;t fail again and only costs about 25 bux.

 

Well, actually without it, the injectors tend to fail earlier and the flexible gas lines take a real beating.

But the injectors probably won't fail for a while. Might be able to get 50K miles even out of them if they are in good shape before you remove the PD.

But a weak gas line or joint, or even the fuel regulator takes a real beating...

 

People say "I removed mine and the car runs fine", but that doesn't mean that you don't need one. If they weren't required, they wouldn't have been fitted to most of the EFI engines made in the last 20 years. I'll trust the engineers on this one.
While everyone knows they can fail and cause an engine fire, I still wouldn't hesitate to fit a new replacement. If it took 15 years for the first one to fail, I doubt you'll have to worry about the next time.