Does my car need a charcoal/vapor canister to run, or can I just bypass it?

You don't need it to run, but why would you bypass? It isn't doing any harm, and doesnt rob power in any way

I preformed a Vacuum test today on my car, the line running to the canister pulled about a 15, (the line that runs on top) but there was no vacuum coming from the canister on the bottom line. There is soppos to be I believe, Plus I don't have the 100$ to replace the canister right now.

no concerned about power, just want my car to run smooth again lol

i have removed alot of the vaccume powered stuff from my car. the only thing comming of of the plennum is the brake booster

i removed my canister with little harm done. be sure you block off everything.

a while back there was a thread on the PROPER (sp?) way to do this. i believe the genneral concensus was that running the vent line directly to the airbox for the intake was a bad idea. it is theoreticaly possible for a backfire (into intake) to ignite the fuel vapor and detonate your fuel tank. this is VEEERRRYYY unlikley. but man.... that would suck.

however i belive if you installed a one way governor valve you could eliminate this risk. you DO neet to allow your tank to vent or all the swelling and contracting will wear down its weak point (think fuelneck connection, and gasket for sending unit) causing leaks and a constant "car smells like gas" syndrom.

so block off BOTH the vacuum line from the intake AND the hard metal line that goes to the gas tank?