MkI fuel accumulator question

[amalventano1 at tds.net (Allyn)]

> That plastic reservoir serves no appearant function, and is 
> kinda fragile, and expensive. 
> 
> You just ran the return line directly to the tank, right?

I did, but only for the cincy trip, and only because I did not have a
replacement on-hand.
Less than 1/4 tank + hard right under throttle = nasty fuel cut, as there are no
in-tank baffles in reservoir equipped cars. Also, the reservoir actively bleeds
air back to the tank, before it reaches the main pump. The placement of that
funky "u" line is actually intentional, as the fuel rushes to that portion
(bottom rear) of the reservoir under accleleration, ensuring the main pump stays
primed at all costs, as any air from intermittent loss of suction of the
transfer pump gets bled back to the tank. This is also why our cars will run
(but oddly) with a failed transfer pump. Air slugs drawn from the (off) transfer
pump and return line (assuming the in-tank part has not disintegrated), will
build up in the reservoir until the main pump finally gulps air (on
deceleration), and the engine dies until the reservoir can (hopefully) gravity
fill for another brief run.

I think the reservoir cracking issue is based on old age + a faulty design
(indicated by the new part being a new rev, but otherwise looking+acting
identical).

Also, the reservoir contains a fine mesh pre-filter (finer than that of the
transfer pump suction), and is likely to increase main pump life, especially
when combined with its de-aerating abilities.

IMO, that dinky plastic part is way more important than the accumulator. The use
of a short length of rubber fuel line is nearly as good at dempening pulses as
that heavy duty bellows in the accumulator anyhow (rubber deflects nicely at 75
psi, even if it is rated for 300)...

HTH
Al