when i was my draining tank,looking in from the fuel pump side towards the baffles. the right hand side is not spot welded like the left side,its just flouting there.

i looked at it and cant seem to see any sign of a weld ,like the one u see on the left hand side.

sorry ive no pics/vid,gf got the camera
just wanted to see if this was common and see what my options are .

any help would be great thanks
ps....is it possible its like this from factory doubt it

 

Option: https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/gb-interest-fd-surge-cover-anti-starvation-tank-mini-fuel-cell-694665/

 

Nope, not normal from the factory. My tank baffles came loose and interfered with the fuel level float and destroyed one of the fuel vapor check valves.

I tried removing the baffles completely and stuffing the tank with fuel cell foam. Result: foam got chewed up and clogged the fuel filter. Bad, bad thing. Also the foam shifted around uncontrollably and prevented the fuel level float from working. So don't do the foam thing.

I would drain the tank, lower it, wash and dry it. Then use JB weld to reattach any loose baffles. JB weld is chemically compatible, and if you epoxy it well it's much stronger than the spot welds.

Last option is a new tank. About $400, and the newer tanks still don't have the most durable baffles.

The surge cover is a worthwhile addition but doesn't stop loose baffles from breaking loose and causing trouble.

Dave

 

Same thing happened to me. After the last autox, the baffles in my gas tank were rattling around very loudly. They had already loosened up over the car's 130k mile life but the last autox just killed it. Went out in style at least.

Bought a new gas tank from Mazda Motorsports for a little over $450 and Hyperion's surge cover that Mahjik linked to. Also did the diff bushings and fuel filter while everything was apart. I had a local mechanic do it. I was reluctant to do all that work on my back in the garage...

 

thanks for the replys .

is this the site i should order from? http://jbweld.net/index.php

gonna try this cos dont have the money for the rest at the moment.

it one thing after the next with these cars.

 

hum....http://jbweld.net/products/index.php

guess the 1st one or the 3rd .

hope the send this way..ireland

how will i no where to place the baffel cos u cant see where the old weld is.

any thoughts would be great.

 

JB weld is just a 2 part epoxy with metal filings in it.

Permatex calls it "cold weld".

You should have no trouble finding something similar at your hardware store.

 

only got around to gettin the epoxy today [rebuliding dd]

just wondering if anyones got a pic of the inside of tank, wanna be sure that im sticking it in the right area.

when feelin round for the old spot weld marks ,it seems it gos by the filler neck just by the small pipe[not sure of pipe name]

can anyone confurm this?

 

I have hyperion's surge cover. I was wondering if i completely removed the baffle would that be okay as well and just use the surge cover. Mine is floating around also.

 

I would stick the baffle wherever it seems reasonable and isn't interfering with anything else in the tank.

With a surge cover and no baffles I wouldn't worry about fuel starvation, but tank slap while racing would become your problem.

Dave

 

tank slap?

 

thanks for the reply,
and tank slaps, when the fuel flows from side to side on hard cornering. cos the baffels aernt there to stop this. id just jb weld it like im doing

 

Here is how I fixed my tank baffle problem for $130 in parts. My issue was not the baffle being loose but my engine cutting out during hard left turns when the tank was under half full.

1. Purchased (10) 16"x4"x6" fuel cell safety foam blocks from Speedwaymotors.com ($80)
2. Purchased electric fuel sender from Centroidproducts.com, I got the 5 hole mount, 1/4" tube, 11 1/2" length, programmed to 0 ohms full tank and 90 ohms empty tank ($50)
3. Removed the factory metal baffles (not fun).
4. Removed the factory float type fuel sending unit attached to the fuel pump assembly. (I left the low fuel alarm sensor in place)
5. Installed fuel cell foam leaving just enough room for the fuel pump assembly to be lowered into the tank.
6. Drilled top of fuel pump assembly for fuel sender tube and mounting bolts. (picture attached, unfortunately it was the only place that had enough room, I could only install 4 of the 5 mounting bolts, the fifth would have interferred with the fuel pump assembly gasket)
7. Wired electric fuel sender into factory harness. It is a little difficult to find a 12 V source near the driver side rear. Do not tap off the fuel pump. I eventually pulled some juice from a connector going to the ABS control unit.

 

Did you do anything to remove the sharp edges left over by the factory baffles? (See my post above)

 

"Tank slap" is the mass of fuel "slapping" from one side of the tank to the other in rapid direction changes. In extreme cases, this can cause unpredictable handling.

 

Most of us use Hyperion's "surge tank cover" with great success to fix that issue. It costs about $150 shipped.

 

Fortunately when I removed my baffles most of them broke off at the weld points. Those that left edges I just flattened them the best I could. My baffles are squeezed in tight so I haven't had debris build up from them moving back and forth across the sharp edges.

Also, I found a picture of the elec fuel level sender before I installed.

 

I hope that works for you. Mine went several months before the foam degraded to the point of clogging things. But I can definitely see that more foam = no shifting = less abrasion.

I investigated electric fuel level sensors but nothing nearly as cheap as $50. How is that sensor working?

Dave

 

I have had the foam in the tank for over a year without degradation. I did replace the fuel pump filter sock (Walbro type pump) when I installed the elec fuel sender as it did show a little build up of particles. It is possible that the foam I got from Speedway Motors is of a different material/construction. As far as the sender it has been working without incident. As with you I searched all the major performance part dealers and could not find the sender under $130. Then I was able to determine their supplier which was Centroid Products out of Florida.