Originally Posted by
Injuneer
The Bosch pumps don’t have check valves as far as I know. What I was concerned about is the point where the two pump discharges merge in the NOS “Y” fitting, before the fuel filter. If both pumps are running, no problem at the “Y”, the fuel flow merges and heads for the filter.
But, what if only the in-tank is running? There is potential for the pressure at the “Y” to cause some of the fuel to bleed into the outboard pump discharge line. With no check valve in the pump, you're losing some fuel capacity, with back flow thru the pump, into the tank. The correct thing to do would be to add a check valve to the outboard pump discharge. I don’t think you would want to place a valve in the pump suction line and cause pressure loss (valve open, but still a restriction of some sort compared to an open line). On the other hand, putting a full diameter, low delta P check valve in the outboard suction line near the tank would also keep the suction line full where it goes up and over the rear axle. Having the outboard suction line drain back to the tank could make it difficult for the outboard pump to prime when it turns on. I never observed any pressure issues that indicated this was a problem.
Even with the check valve in the outboard pump circuit, the pressure would still drop to “0” when the pumps shut off, because there would be no obstruction in the in-tank flow path.
I guess I get obsessive on the fuel system. After I graduated with my BSME I went to work for “Esso (now Exxon) Research & Engineering” doing conceptual design for refineries and chemical plants all over the world. We were constantly in graduate level classes learning more about fluid flow, hydraulics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, oil, gasoline, etc.. Sure, it’s a major scale down to an automotive fuel system, but the principles still apply. I just wish I was not 5.000 miles away in Italy when Second Street was putting the car together. There are some things I would have done differently.