tankventing

ELITE/ECLAT/EXCEL TANK VENTING

Anyone else have the slosh & spill problem?

Elite M50 filler necks have no check valve, so fuel hits the caps even under "moderate" cornering... practice runs through the park. I've got new rubber rings in the caps, but the leak appears to be through the center where the sprung plate rides on a center pin.

Ken,

Are you sure it's the fuel cap that's leaking and not the venting system. With new rubber gaskets, there should be no significant leakage.

My Eclat has never leaked, even when autocrossing on sticky race rubber. On the other hand, a friend's Eclat leaks with just mildly aggressive street driving... similar to what you're talking about. The difference in the two Eclats is that mine has a stock fuel plumbing system while his DPO re-plumbed the vent tubing when the original surgical rubber vent tubing gave up (typical Lotus fuel smell problem). His vent is now just a short length of fuel line that goes directly from the vent nipple on the left end of the tank to the vent nipple on the left (only) fuel filler. In a right hand turn, the fuel sloshes left and out of the car.

The Elite and Eclat are different in that the Eclat has only one filler, so I'm comparing apples and oranges. But not in one important point. In both cars the tank is vented on the left end, and the hose is routed to the right side of the car before opening up to the atmosphere.

If you attach a 1/4 inch hose to the bottom of a gallon jug and fill the jug with water, the water will leak out of the hose. If you lift the end of the hose up above the water level, the water won't leak out. Venting a fuel tank is just like that, only sideways. Tap one end of the tank. Open the hose to the atmosphere well beyond the opposite end of the tank. Obviously, keep the open end of the vent hose above the fuel level.

The correct vent routing for a Fed Elite/Eclat is out the left end of the tank, over the top of the tank to the right side of the car, up over the side windows (here the Elite "T's" to the right filler), down the right "A" pillar, into the right foot well, forward into the engine compartment (follow the vacuum line from the reservoir) to the charcoal canister on the right inside fender.

The important part of all that is that the vent line attaches to the left side of the tank and exits the far right side of the car, well beyond the right end of the tank. In a right turn, the fuel sloshes left, but the open end of the tube is way off to the right, so no fuel leaks out. In a left turn, the fuel sloshes away from the vent nipple. Again, no leak.

Even if you don't want to route a line up to the front-mounted charcoal canister, you should at least route it to the right side of the Elite. First, connect both fuel filler vent nipples together with a straight length of tubing. Then "T" the vent tube into that interconnect tube as close to the right fuel filler as possible.

Eclat owners (one filler) who don't want to use the charcoal plumbing should route the vent line all the way to the right side of the car well beyond the right end of the tank, loop it around something solid, and then do a 180° turn back to the left fuel filler.

If your car's vent lines are correct and the filler cap is indeed leaking....

well, never mind.

Regards,

Tim Engel