Charcol Canister

All cars have cannisters, not all have changeable filters. All C3's do.

Do all C3's have the cannisters? I don't believe '68 & '69's do.

I was looking at this old thread because I have a gas smell and believe it is the filter in the charcoal canister (also called the Evaporative Control System - ECS).

Ken's discription of problems was very helpful.

Here's my problem...How do I change the filter? I looked at my Haynes repair manaual, and the AIM but neither one of them actually say how to change the filter. Has anyone ever done this before?
Thanks,
Glenn

Very simple. Just reach up in the bottom of the cannister, and pull it out. No tools. Silde the new one in place. Done.

Thanks Ken,

(nice picture of you and the car! I can't wait to see the picture of you driving it)

I guess the reason that I couldn't see how was that there isn't one there! Thanks for the help. I'm gonna get a new filter and put it in.
Glenn

I called around to find the filter, and Autozone doesn't have it, and my local GM parts dealer said it was an out of stock product and they couldn't get it. The guy at NAPA sold me what he thought would fit. It is sort of the right size around, and about an 1/8th of an inch thick. Is this right? The space seems like the filter should be a bit thicker??
Thanks, Glenn

That is the right filter. Simple, isn't it. I know it seem like it should be more, but it's not. Sometimes it seem like they want to fall out, then you can use two filters and make a thicker filter. This works fine.

|UPDATED|4/28/2004 6:41:47 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Thanks allot Ken!

I can't wait to see if the gas smell goes away.

Glenn

The filter alone won't make the gas smell go away. The gas fumes should be absorbed in the charcoal. A gas smell will be a bad cannister, or a leak somewhere in the system.

kstyer said: The filter alone won't make the gas smell go away. The gas fumes should be absorbed in the charcoal. A gas smell will be a bad cannister, or a leak somewhere in the system.

It's ironic that this thread was just revived...

Months ago I posted something about a fuel smell and needed help tracking it down. Well, while it was in the shop one day, I asked them to look for the source of it... they said it was a leaky fuel filter, which they said they fixed. When I brought it home, I didn't really smell fuel anymore, so I thought all was ok.

The next time I took it out for a ride, when I got home I noticed the smell again. Well, I've been too busy to check it out for myself until a couple of days ago.

Here is why it's ironic that this thread was just revived...

It turns out, the vapor recovery hose going to the canister was laying aginst the exhaust manifold and was burnt and cracked, and thus, gas fumes were escaping and not being filtered. Being that I didn't feel like going to the store to get new a new hose, I just used some electrical tape to patch the hole. I also rerouted the hose so it won't burn again. And as I had hoped... no more fuel smell!!

Also, another thing that may have been part of the problem, that same hose was also cracked where it attaches to the carb, right next to the hose clamp. So I disconnected it, cut off the cracked part and reconnected it.

So to anyone that has a fuel smell from under the hose, carefully inspect that hose! You couldn't tell it was cracked without turning it to see the backside of it.

I also noticed that the hose is in extremely bad shape. It is very soft and brittle. I'll have to get a new hose soon. I was thinking about getting one from one of the Vette part giants... do I need to, or can I just get any old hose from a parts store?

(By the way, thanks Ken for that great description of the system!)

Thanks Adam and Ken.

I'm gonna check out the hoses next. If it's not that, any idea if you can still get a charcoal cannister?

I know that GM has discontinued the part. Anybody else sell them, or is a junk yard visit?

Glenn