Charcoal Canister - Great Option! (3 Viewers)

[Nay]

Hopefully, everyone is also changing their old hoses along with the canisters. That will eliminate vapor and pressure leaks.

I didn't change the hoses...but am going to do it this week. I'll report back since I am getting venting with the new OEM CC but have never had a fuel boiling issue at any point and my engine temps are running good within range according to the scanguage.

Highest I have hit was 207 degrees and that was up a major grade on I-70 at over 7K feet elevation with 6 people, two dogs, and gear at 93 degrees. Temps are otherwise generally staying at 195 +/-.

 

[TOY350]

***UPDATE***

McGrew Trail Ride was this weekend. The last 4 trail rides over the last 2 years has caused the fuel boiling issue. Ran it in June this year and boiled the fuel. Changed to the VC120 a few weeks back. Did not change anything else: fuel type or where purchased, gas cap, hoses, etc. Only changed the canister so I could troubleshoot step by step.

No fuel boiling issues. Popped the cap and got a 1-2 second whoosh and that was it. Did not smell the "old gas" or "turpentine" smell near the fuel door either. I did smell it near another 80 on the trail though.

Success so far.

 

[Red Sox Cruiser]

That was probably mine :-(

 

[TOY350]

It was Chad's

 

[cool breeze]

UPDATE:
Mine is still boiling after a trip from 8k to 12k feet in a couple hours this weekend. First time since swapping it out so we'll see if it happens again.

 

[Nay]

I changed my hoses over the weekend - the short piece between the VCV and elbow was looking pretty rugged and definitely cracked at least on the surface and all of the hoses were quite brittle. No matter what else you find, I think replacement fuel vapor hoses are a must.

So far...no fuel smell (I have never had a fuel boiling issue), but it hasn't been particularly hot at a max of 83 degrees, either. Fingers crossed

 

[sl33p3]

I changed my hoses over the weekend - the short piece between the VCV and elbow was looking pretty rugged and definitely cracked at least on the surface and all of the hoses were quite brittle. No matter what else you find, I think replacement fuel vapor hoses are a must.

So far...no fuel smell (I have never had a fuel boiling issue), but it hasn't been particularly hot at a max of 83 degrees, either. Fingers crossed

where did you source your fuel hose? napa type place? anything fancy? guessing not

spent a weekend in ouray, all the vehicles had fuel smells of sorts, 80s and runners, but we are all the same age.

and i noticed fuel smell in my sti yesterday at 102 for the first time ever. so there are certainly conditions when anything is going to have problems.

with this canister i have traded my fuel pressure/boiling with no smell issues for no boiling pressure problems and smell... not sure what that exactly means for whats working and not. but hoses can't hurt. thinking maybe my VSV stuff next. when it is strong in the cab while moving on a a trail, i approach my limit of tolerance.

 

[TOY350]

with this canister i have traded my fuel pressure/boiling with no smell issues for no boiling pressure problems and smell... not sure what that exactly means for whats working and not. but hoses can't hurt. thinking maybe my VSV stuff next. when it is strong in the cab while moving on a a trail, i approach my limit of tolerance.

This might be the reason Toyota vented the bottom of the canister down into the frame rail. The VC120 just vents out of the bottom of the canister and can possibly be contributing to your in cab fuel smell. I popped the bottom of my VC120 off pretty easily and reattached it but can't remember if it's possible to attach a hose to where it vents. Might want to see if you can reattach the factory vent line from the frame to the new canister.

 

[sl33p3]

This might be the reason Toyota vented the bottom of the canister down into the frame rail. The VC120 just vents out of the bottom of the canister and can possibly be contributing to your in cab fuel smell. I popped the bottom of my VC120 off pretty easily and reattached it but can't remember if it's possible to attach a hose to where it vents. Might want to see if you can reattach the factory vent line from the frame to the new canister.

yeah i have popped that bottom piece off and put it back on too. it would be really easy to hook up some kind of vent hose to either it and block their labyrinth vent or just attach instead i would think.

 

[Nay]

where did you source your fuel hose? napa type place? anything fancy? guessing not

Just NAPA

I still need to clamp the lower vent hose (managed to lose the clamp I bought while installing), but I am getting some vapor smell. So it wasn't just the hoses, although I need more hot temp testing.

Question remains why a certain fuel mixture would create venting/vapor smell even at normal engine temps. I just don't have any engine temp issues that could be contributing and it's just not that hot outside...

There is a station in Denver that sells 91 octane pure gas (no ethanol). I am going to have to make a trip to run a full tank and see if there is any difference. It's the only way to be definitive.

 

[landtank]

I was out in Ouray two weeks ago and Moab last week. I was with a guy with a 1992 and he had some buzzing at the CC and fuel smell but was running around 210* coolant temps while mine was at 185*

We both had some smell out in Moab but it was after some steep down grade maneuvers and I attributed that to flooding the CC.

 

[TOY350]

Just some extra info: The last 3 McGrew runs prior to this one I got 8.61, 8.29 & 8.86 MPG. This run after the canister swap I got 9.19 MPG, not a big jump and possible not related but it was nice to see an increase if ever so slight.

 

[Riad]

So I can toss/remove the bottom hose completely with this VC120 canister, right?

Just checking.

Thanks

 

[TOY350]

So I can toss/remove the bottom hose completely with this VC120 canister, right?

Just checking.

Thanks

Yes. Bottom hose to frame rail can just be left there and not used.

 

[Riad]

Loving it . For the first time no pressure has come out after removing the gas cap for a fill-up

 

[eurorom]

Nice find

 

[MoGas]

Subscribing.

 

[NorCal Cruiser]

After having gas boil out the filler neck while in Montana this summer I installed a VC120 canister last month. So far so good! Now there's no pressure release when I open the gas cap and I don't smell gas the entire time I'm driving off road in hot weather. Quick, easy, cheap fix.

 

[Nay]

I was out in Ouray two weeks ago and Moab last week. I was with a guy with a 1992 and he had some buzzing at the CC and fuel smell but was running around 210* coolant temps while mine was at 185*

We both had some smell out in Moab but it was after some steep down grade maneuvers and I attributed that to flooding the CC.

I've been doing some testing over the last month measuring temps in relation to fuel smell via Scangauge II, and I think your 185* mark is an important one (at least at Colorado elevations).

To recap, I have installed a new OEM CC about a year ago and new hoses this summer. I have never had a fuel boiling issue, only an under hood fuel smell issue during the hotter months. As far as I can tell, we have (up to) 10% ethanol fuel mixture year round.

I installed a snorkel during the testing period, which has had little effect on intake temps on the road at speed, but seems to help in slow speed or idle conditions. There has been no effect on engine cooling in normal use in regards to fuel smell.

The net of my observations is pretty simple - if I am driving in conditions where the coolant temp does not rise over 185* there is no fuel smell ever. Anything much higher than this and I get fuel smell every time with increasing duration and intensity the hotter the engine temps over a longer period of time. Max I hit was 210* on a steep uphill on I-70 at 8K feet @ 93 degree ambient temp carrying about 800 lbs of passenger and cargo, and fuel smell was very strong upon parking. This tells me my cooling system is within *normal* ranges, but not working effectively enough in regards to generating excess fuel vapor.

Today was a great example. It was ~55* driving downhill into Denver today (7,400 ft. elevation to about 5,600 over 30 miles). Coolant temps stayed in the upper 170's to lower 180's and no fuel smell when I parked. On the way home it had warmed to about 65* in Denver and coolant temps on the uphill held steady at about 190* with very mild fuel smell for a relatively brief period upon parking at home.

So I see two sets of problems - the first is fuel boiling as addressed by replacing the CC. The second is fuel vapor smell that I think is clearly caused by a lower engine heat threshold due to fuel mixtures, requiring greater cooling capacity to keep temps at 185 or below or the CC will vent the excess vapor causing in-cabin issues at slow speeds. As Rick points out, his temps were at 185 with no issues but another 80 was running 210 with a strong fuel smell. That's the cooling system, not the CC.

All of this observation is at relatively high elevation, where the problems seem to be more persistent, but it seems the underlying issue is that our engines were designed to run at temps that are higher than current ethanol based fuel mixtures can handle at higher altitudes and the solution is to optimize cooling capacity to prevent steady operating temps at 195-210* and keep them more in the 175-185* range.

 

[vegasfj40]

I have the exact problem on my 79 fj40. When I am in the mountains in the summer I get fuel boiling in the tank and very high pressure out of the cap. I have ordered this canister from ac delco today and will try to retrofit this to my rig. Looks like it will work out good.