Dear volvo426,

Hope you're well. I understand that the send unit was wrongly installed, so that "the barrel" ended up atop the baffle, which - over time - was bent out of shape by pressure from the send unit.

I'd trim the baffle, so that the send unit can be seated in its normal place i.e., such that "the barrel" is parallel with the tank's rear-most wall. The fuel pump intake will then be at the tank's lowest point. The baffle limits fuel slosh, the movement of the fuel when the car slows, accelerates, and turns.

When the in-tank pump was atop the baffle - and "the barrel" was parallel with the tank's floor - about 25-30% of the fuel in the tank could not be reached by the pump. I'd guess that the fuel gauge readings were always wrong, as the float in "the barrel" was moved by sloshing fuel.

With no fuel gauge reading - or erratic fuel gauge readings - the driver would have to pay close attention to "miles driven", to know when to add fuel. I'd guess that sometimes the car was run nearly "dry". That means that the in-tank fuel pump was not cooled, because it was not immersed in fuel. Being "run dry" accelerates wear on a fuel pump.

The in-tank pump is not a costly unit. It is not easy to access. Since you have the fuel send unit out of the tank, replace the in-tank pump, trim the baffle so you can position the send unit with "the barrel" parallel to the tank's rear wall, and so put everything as it should be.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook