Date:         Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:56:55 +1000
Reply-To:     Stephen Overmyer <S.OVERMYER@UWS.EDU.AU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Overmyer <S.OVERMYER@UWS.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Re: Charcoal canister on 2.1 digifant engines?, page 20.33
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

 
>Date:    Thu, 28 Apr 2005 18:28:52 -0800
>From:    "Tom L. Salicos" <TomSalicos@COMCAST.NET>
>Subject: Re: Charcoal canister on 2.1 digifant engines?, page 20.33

>The gas tank has vents on top that connect to the top of the charcoal
canister.  Fuel vapors are absorbed by the charcoal >in the canister.
When the vehicle is running, the vapors are pulled out of the canister
by the engine's vacuum, into the >intake manifold where they mix with
the intake air and are burned.

>The bottom of the canister has a "fresh air" tube that may be shown
going to the air filter, and that makes sense, since >the "purged"
vapors will be sent to the engine with the rest of the intake air.
However, on my Syncro, the tube seems to >be just stuck up into the body
and does not look like there is anything for it to actually connect to
up there.

                                      
A tube from the cannister back to the air filter never existed on the
2.1L AFAIK...as Tom says, and my (non-syncro) 2.1L van also validates
this, the tube simply pokes up into the chassis rail for a relatively
good source of clean air.


>I can't speak for the lifetime of the charcoal, but I think it is one
of those things that, if it fails, nothing will act >differently, so no
biggie (Except that the polar ice caps will melt and the shorelines of
the world will be flooded).


The charcoal canister should have a good long service life however a
couple of TFUs can happen...

Should the canister, through some odd set of circumstances, get flooded
with fuel (it has happened) it will dry back out to a hard lump of
charcoal rendering it useless. Replacement may then be necessary but it
can sometimes be revived by removing the canister and shaking or
thumping the thing until the charcoal again breaks up again.

The more likely reason the canister will require some maintenance is
that some of the charcoal will find it's way either up into those two
tiny tubes (one purple, one white) that go to the intake manifold or
into the valve at the top of the canister. End result in either case is
that your fuel tank won't vent properly as fuel is used up and this will
be obvious by the fuel tank making that "Whoomph!" sound usually just
after you pull up after driving some distance. You may also hear air
being sucked into the tank if you remove the fuel cap quickly before a
Whoomph happens...

Removal of the canister, giving it a good series of shakes as well as
blowing out the valve and cleaning out the two small lines with a fine
wire sees all back in good order and the canister will usually require
no further thought for the next few years.

Keeping the old one going by occasionally shaking/cleaning is a lot
cheaper than getting a new one and is only about a 15 min process from
go to woe...

Cheers,
Steve O
NSW Australia
'92 Transporter WBX Kombi
'00 Transporter Double Cab
'03 Transporter Double Cab (work truck)
'78 Landrover Series 3 Soft Top Ute (ex-Aust Army)