Can i use the number on the charcoal cannister to tell what year it came out of?

 

The charcoal canisters were used for multiple years (and carlines) for different engine/induction applications(I4 carb,I4 EFI,V6 carb,V6 EFI,V8 carb,V8 EFI and California/Federal etc).The part number you have may cross to what replaces it now but would only give you a general idea of the years it was used.

 

Im just curious because my electrical connector wont plug into my purge solenoid but another one i have will. I was trying to figure out if the cannister or the connector was changed.

 

what does the charcoal canister do anyway?

 

Better known as the evap canister, evaporative emissions canister, etc. It's designed to trap and store evaporated fuel from the tank, carb/throttle body, intake, anywhere the fuel is routed and may evaporate from (when the car isn't running). The canister stores them and the evaporates are 'purged' by intake vacuum and burned in the engine, jsut as normal fuel would be.

 

so taking it out would be a bad idea?

 

When operating properly it won't hurt your performance at all, and taking it out would be a pretty bad idea, for the car and for the environment.