nater2829

My wife charcoal canister went out and they said it is gong to cost me 903 dollars to fix. The canister itself is 697 dollars. I called Toyota cause my wife's car only has 50k when the check engine light and her traction control light as well went on. They said there was no recall on it but apparently there is a big issue with it from all the postings on it. Toyota said it would only pay for half but i have to pay up front and then send the bill and they will repay me half. It is not covered under the 100k mile warranty either. And now the dang airbag light is on. Any suggestions on what i should do. And is there anywhere i can get the canister cheaper.

Thanks Nate

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

I'd expect it to be available at junk yards, though that's used of course. If you obtain the part number, I'm sure you could buy it from TRDSparks for less. I've never heard of an evaporation tank dying -- did it crack? Are there any symptoms other then the CEL indicator?

vettereddie

Shouldn't this be under warranty? How many miles does the box have on it?

EDIT: NM, saw your mileage in the original post, so out of the 36k mile basic and probably not under powertrain. Sorry.

XD40tC

Reset the ECU see if it comes back!

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

According to the OP:

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

I just found it on parts.com for cheaper. The first number is list, the seond is the savings, and the third is their price. I've bought a number of parts from them for my Mitsubishi and they're good.

They require the VIN to ensure they ship the correct part for the car. However, I really don't understand how the evaporation canistor can go bad (outside of being broken or melted), could it just be a hose either split or came loose, or maybe the flush valve/solenoid has failed?

FWIW -- The interior charcoal filter is also replacable (List $49.67 for $34.34).

Vapor canister, xb 2008 $698.74$215.65 $483.09

http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/inde...layCatalogid=0

Jan06xB

You just missed it according to Motor Trends . . . "Emissions equipment is required by Federal law to be covered for five years or 50,000 miles."

Big_Bird

What is this charcoal canister?

nater2829

thanks for all of you guys help, i saw the price alot better than the dealers. I dont know what is wrong with it, i took it to the dealer and they told me it was the canister, didnt say if it was any parts related to the canister causing the fault or the canister itself was no longer good or damaged, i will ask them for that info. I dont understand why the dang traction control system is turned off due to the canister going bad, any ideas? Also already reset the ecu, just comes back in 5 to 7 days. And as soon as i find out why the Airbag light is on i will post the reason. Thanks again for the help. Will keep up to date

thanks Nate

nater2829

no other probs, car runs fine except for the traction system is turn off from the CEL being on, and gas milage suffers alittle or than that nothing

Jan06xB

The charcoal canister absorbs gasoline fumes from the gas tank to reduce the tank pressure when you are parked and when the engine is started up the engine vacuum sucks on the canister to draw the captured gasoline fumes out of it to "empty" it and burn them in the engine thus reducing hydrocarbon emissions. They can go bad if you happen to over fill the gas tank which forces the gasoline into the canister instead of just the fumes. You might want to check the hose lines going to the canister to make sure they do not have any cracks or splits in them just in case you have a vacuum leak and check your gas cap too and see if you get any pressure buildup in the gas tank. I think you shold get some small amount of pressure in the tank after driving on a warm day - yeah good luck with that.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

The fuel evaporation canister is an emissions control device that collects fuel vapors from the fuel tank and stores them in a charcoal filter until the next time the engine is started. When the engine is started, a solenoid is operated to air purge the vapor into the throttle body for normal cylinder combustion (slightly enrichens the mixture, but only briefly and the O2 sensor allows the ECU to compensate). This prevents fuel vapor pressure from building up behind the fuel cap and possibly escaping into the atmosphere.

Jay Blaze

um just for my info can the grade of gasoline used have an effect on the canister??

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

As in, will using premium risk damaging the evap canister? No. But, as mentioned, filling the tank filler-pipe will -- regardless of gas grade. It's best to stop filling when the gas station pump automatic-shutoff shuts off.

Jay Blaze

Ah ok thanks man!

chief52

This is "spot on." The canister is for vapors... overfilling the tank can force fuel into the canister soaking the vapor absorbing material. This will screw up the engine computer. Obviously this shouldn't happen with one or two over fill mishaps, but if you are the type of person who tries to squeeze every drop of gas into the fill tube and it brims to the top or overruns, you'll be purchasing a new canister way before its time.

RC-PILOT

WOW! I'm proud of you guys. You are spot on!!!!

Here is the thing that bugs the cr^p out of me thought. The dealer didn't tell you anything. You PAID for a diagnosis, DEMAND the information you paid for!!! Make them tell you what tests they ran. Ask them what proof they have that the canister has failed. It is very un-common for the canister to fail. Most of the time the vent valve or purge valve fail. Sometimes both fail. Either make them tell you what you paid to find out, or take it to an independant and have them test it for you and give you the details you are paying for. My shop would have given you at least 2 paragraphs of test results to prove what is wrong and to answer the big question...WHY!!!! I friggin hate dealers. They really give the rest of us a bad name.

FWIW.... The Toyota strategy is that any time the CEL lights, they turn on the VSC light as well. There are a lot of reasons for that, but they shouldn't do it for evap codes.

Jan06xB

Yeah filling it up and then parking it RIGHT AWAY will allow the gas to expand and really do a number on the canister too so if your favorate gas station is near home and you like to fill up on the way home don't fill it so much.

justmaleo

mine went 2 months after i bought my xb2.. i thought it was cause the alarm install and was really getting ____ed off but took it to toyota and got it done....under the warranty of course....