Heres my issue, if i drive around town with a/c on ill smell fuel typically within 30 mins. Drive around town no ac, no smell. Drive around with windows down, no smell.

What ive done so far to fix or find the issue. Installed a vented gas cap, because when i take gas cap off i hear air rushing by. Not sure if its rushing in or out. Replaced the vent valve under the car by the gas tank. Still have air rushing by when opening gas cap. removed evap canister to test. The solenoid still works, applied 12 volts to it can hear it activate and when i applied vacuum, i can feel vacuum release when solenoid activated. The vacuum vent valve is still in working condition. Applied vacuum to it air then flows through with ease. No i dont onow how much vacuum is being applied, used a syringe that the wife got from work. The car also get poor fuel economy. The only thing i can take note of is the vent tube on top of the evap canister has no line to it. Just open to the air. Does this need a line that goes elsewhere? There is no fuel leaks in the engine bay. Checked fuel lines. No leaks found.

Please help, i live in Florida. A/c is a necessity. I like cruising around with the wife.

 

I take it your hood to cowl seal is still in place? If not, I would reinstall it.

As a test you could disconnect the vent line at the charcoal canister and cap it. Plug the vacuum line to the intake and see if that resolves the issue as a test - Or just leave it capped off..?

Assuming the charcoal canister isn't cracked? Assuming the filter element has been replaced? The air vent is meant to pull air in and mix with the line from the tank. When the purge valve is energized it allows vacuum from the intake to pull in this mixture and burn it during combustion.

I'd have to imagine that the charcoal embedded in the canister becomes saturated and thus rendered useless. With no replacement I think we all face the same gassy smells under the right conditions.

Hope some of this helps.

 

Ill test out capping the lines. Haven't done that. Cowl seal is there and in good condition. I believe my charcoal canister is one of the ones you cant replace the filter. Looked at the bottom and theres no place for the filter.

 

Does it have pellets or wadding inside? If pellets, replace it, mine purged into the carb. Nice mess.

 

I'm gonna say pellets. sitting the canister on the bench i can hear things rattle inside and occasionally some black particles would come out. Which I'm say is the charcoal pellets. I think I'm gonna attempt to cut the top off, replace the charcoal pellets and then glue the top back on and see if that helps.

 

When the screen rusts out, the pellets end up in the carb bowl. I heard you can put a lawn tractor gas filter on the purge line, I got a replacement canister that has wadding in , hope it never happens again, the super seceded one was for a Grand National and no pellets the guy said.
you can still find new ones, I found a nOS one for $50. I’d look for a new one.

 

Same time on a hoist, we replaced all the rubber line PCs, the vent line had a ton of water in it. My system was plugged, now it seem to be fine, look in your line for water. My have had the wrong gas cap on, I replaced that at that time too. My mechanic, has never seen water in the line like that he said.

 

So im attempting to repair the charcoal canister. Cut the top off. Emptied the pellets, replaced the charcoal with activated charcoal from the pet store. Also replacing the filters witg carbon filters from the pet store also. Currently waiting on the rtv to dry. Once thats done give it a good test drive. Also replacing the purge valve, even though the old one seemed to work. The purge solenoid still works. Fingers crossed this solves the problem. The old charcoal definitely stunk of gas. Had to keep my garage opened majority of the day.

 

I'm having the same problem. Let us know how this works. I'll have to try it.

 

I’d get a new one w/ the wadding in.

 

Thanks for the photos. Do you have any others like the underneath side of the top and what was down at the bottom? Was the whole thing filled with charcoal?

 

RTV probably not the best choice for something exposed to gas or fumes, but give it a go. I used plastic epoxy to put mine back together.

 

^^This. Something needs to contain the charcoal. The bigger chunks will flake off smaller chunks and that can get sucked into the vacuum lines. We had the charcoal bag rupture on our '10 Tahoe and the pellets were all the way up to the engine. The main symptom was we couldn't put more than about a tablespoon of gas in it at a time before the pump would shut off. It made for some loooonnnnggggg stops at the gas station. We replaced the canister assembly, and ran wire up the purge hoses from the back as far as we could and were digging rat 'turds' out of them for some time. I then went up front and blew air down the purge lines. There was still quite a bit of the turds in there. After hooking things back up we could fill it up as normal.

I'm not sure if the alcohol in the fuel these days attacks the bags holding the turds, or if the pellets swell some when they absorb the gas and break out. Either way, the bag blew out in the canister. Sounded like bb's rattling around in there when we shook it.

 

I did not take any pictures of the inside. Hindsight i should have. But inside mine was a tube that is connected to the top. At the bottom of the tube is a screen to prevent chunk going to the engine. Theres a filter at the top and a filter on the bottom. Filter on the bottom sits on a cone shaped basket. The tube goes through the center of this basket and is a chamber with no charcoal. Im not worried about charcoal getting into the motor seeing how it would have to fall through a filter layer and some how go through the screen on the tube. Now the rtv, my thought behind it is one, its what i had on hand. 2- it holds up to oils decently so f-it. Give it a whirl. I did drive the car today for about 30 mins with ac on. No fumes. Took cap off after driving no hissing. I'll call this a win and yes, ill monitor the rtv.