Rusty fuel tank cause exterior fuel pump whining, any other concern beyond pump?

[roguetoaster]

Can't confirm if it will fit the new tank, but that's what they look like. $10 each is quite steep, and a good substitute might be a firewall grommet in the correct size, whatever it happens to be.

[packratbimmer]

Sounds like you have an early fuel rail with the in and out on the same end. They tend to get rusted inside with the 6-12% ethanol in today's fuel. The later models have one fuel pump and the in/out are on opposing ends of the fuel rail. With the early rails, you get sediment built up in the injector filters.

Genius! Good to know

[ForcedFirebird]

Genius! Good to know

Actually, I stand corrected. Late model has in/out same end, just was reminded why. The long fuel injector plug rail requires the in/out same end, or the inlet fouls the plug rail. We notched the plastic cover to clear the inlet.

Experience. Testing a fresh race car chassis, I kept running into fuel starvation issues. The car had all the same tricks as our other car, but it made for a very bad day at the track. Near the end of the day, we had been cleaning injectors, cleaning filters, the tank was new and we couldn't figure out where the rust was coming from. Another e30 at the track wrecked his car, he lent me his injectors (with fuel rail still attached) and the issues went away. Studied the rail, and realized the inside was literally flaking off and wreaking havoc. After that, we always used the rails with in/out on both ends. Just keep in mind the late model injector harness with the c191 plug will not clear the early rail without modification.

[ForcedFirebird]

The fuel filters are a concern, as I just got them rebuilt. I only have driven the car maybe 150 miles since the noise started in the pump, hopefully the injectors are fine

Easy to check with the magnifying glass. The filters should be white with black plastic cages, and a gold/silver top retention ring - if they are brown in the filter area, good chance there's some clogging. They are very easy to change yourself. Kits are sold online with the removal tool for pennies.

EDIT: https://www.amazon.com/Injector-Bask...441170802&th=1