Carbon cannister query

[CarlosV8]

I was messing about with my grill today and noticed that the carbon cannister in the inner wing is rattling about. After sticking my hand in the inner wing whilst holding a camera I can see that it is mounted with a large jubilee clip which is bolted to the inner wheel arch. This has rusted through and snapped.

Since I've had the car I occasionally get a whiff of petrol when moving off from standstill. When I had the gearbox out I changed the engine bay hoses, but this didn't cure the problem and I've never been able to track it down. I'm now wondering whether the fumes have been coming from the carbon cannister as it's damaged from bouncing around the inner wing. From what I can gather the cannister is only there for emmissions control, so could I just remove it and let the tank vent to the atmosphere like it would on any old car? Will this cause any problems with the ECU?

I'd probably leave the vent pipe from the tank in the inner arch, but just mount it and put some sort of breather on it to prevent any crap getting in the pipe. Does this sound feasible? Because of it's awkward position I don't really want to go to the hassle of removing the front of the car to remount the existing cannister, only to discover it's been damaged anyway and is useless.

Any advice appreciated!

Cheers

Carl

Edited by CarlosV8 on Saturday 26th March 18:04

[CarlosV8]

It's mounted against the innner wheel arch with a jubilee clip. There's no access panel on the inner arch (just the bolt for the clip) or on the inner wing (like The Bible shows). So the only way to get to it is via the grill. I don't think there's a seperate valve so it must be the later cannister.

Pics of the broken mount and cannister below:

[SILICONE KID]

Don`t know if it is true but i was told the carbon canister is used as a easy sart (fumes go to the plenum) and to allow the tank to breath.If the fuel cap had been fitted on the exterior of the car the carbon canister would not be needed,fuel caps vent to atmosphere..

[CarlosV8]

Thinking back to my old MR2, the tank vented into the chassis rails via a vapour trap that got rid of the petrol smell. When it failed the car would fill with petrol fumes when you opened the window! Wonder if a simple system like that would be a better solution, just to ensure no nasty fumes. Can't see it making much difference to starting but might disconnect the canister before I do anything to see what the effect is.

Will also do some digging into the rover canister.

Cheers!

Carl

[CarlosV8]

Found a brand new Rover cannister for a tenner and a new mounting bracket for £6, so I'm gonna try and sort it out properly.

At £100 for the parts from the 'specialists' I hope the Rover cannister works. If not it'll all be coming off!

Cheers for the heads up

Carl

[450Nick]

I just pulled it out and threw it in the skip. Then just re-route the fuel tank vent to vent to air in one of the front wheel arches. Problem eliminated.

[CarlosV8]

That's my back-up plan Nick. Do you get any issues with petrol smells though? That was my only concern about binning it, as that used to make my old mk1 MR2 quite an unpleasant experience, which vented the tank in a similar way

[450Nick]

No, no petrol smell at all. Mine vents right down under the nose on the nearside. Probably around 10 inches from the front bumper. Had it that way for around 3 years no issues.

[SILICONE KID]

Now you have removed the carbon canister,i would of thought the fuel in the tank would EVAPORATE.!The pipe going to the plenum acts as a easy start by useing the vapour.

[SILICONE KID]

Thanks for that Spend!I was told that by a so called TVR specialist..Nothing wrong with my MS setup now the ignition spark as been used to it`s optimum.It was set up no better than a distributor so god knows what its going to like when its been set up..More bhp

SPEND YOU REMOVED YOUR LAST POST

Edited by SILICONE KID on Wednesday 13th April 12:27

[timshap]

Having traced all the pipes and almost removing the cannister. I have disconnected the breather from the tank and the one to the plenum plus electrics.
Do I need to in the meantime blank off the plenum one otherwise it wuold be sucking up unfiltered and additional air ???

I will check the breakers for a replacement can

Thought I would try this first to establish if I have stopped the vacuum build up in the tank. If it persists then it must be a fualty roll over valve which is behind the tank I am told..

Thanks