Charcoal canister

[jasheehan]

Quick question. I bought a VC120 charcoal canister from Rock Auto. To confirm, is the bottom hose on the OEM filter just a valve to the ambient air. What do I do with it since the VC120 doesn't have a bottom hose attachment point.

2nd question. Do I remove the plastic thingy on the bottom of the canister or leave it on? I'd assume that I leave it on to keep crud out of breather hole.

Thanks.

 

[thedoughboy]

The hose on the OEM is for ambient air. Some on here have drilled a hole in the bottom of the VC120 to accommodate this hose. I just zip tied it out of the way in case I want to do this mod later.

You do not have to remove the "plastic thingy" on the bottom of the VC120. This is where the VC120 gets the ambient air from.

FWIW, I had to rotate the OEM mounting bracket on my install to make it fit.

Good luck and no more hissssssssssss......at the pump!

 

[george_tlc]

It was really easy to pull the plastic bottom cover off, use a step drill to put a hole in the middle of it, drill 2 holes for the flange/hose from the original charcoal canister and I just used pop rivets to attach the flange to bottom cover. Nice seal, no issues.

Bit of sealant on around the rim when you click the bottom cover back on and you have a reasonably 'factory' canister replacement. Of course you have to fiddle/play with the bracket to accommodate the larger diameter VC120 - I used decent (made in the USA) tie wraps to tension the clamp around the canister.

I figured I'd rather vent the bottom to the factory location versus high up in the engine bay - but no real religious reason behind my thinking.

cheers,
george.

 

[jasheehan]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the quick reply.

 

[jasheehan]

Got er done this morning. It was a tight fit since the canister is a little larger diameter. I drilled a hole and attached the OEM breather hose to the bottom.

Thanks for the help.

 

[1973Guppie]

fyi, I just left the vc120 canister as is and pushed the oem hose out of the way......

 

[jasheehan]

I thought about that but it only took me 5 minutes to drill a few holes and transfer the OEM breather tube.

 

[Swbkrn2003]

Thank Gosh for this forum! I went to do mine but in my ADD i did not read all the way down. Now i'll deal with this and get rid of the hiss! I am glad we have non-ethanol fuel here in Hawaii and even though it say 89 octane it's actually closer to 91 since the ethanol premium fuel say 91 bu the octane calculation is BS. I know i used to be in the fuel business!

Thanks,

 

[Bambusiero]

The VC120 bottom cover is, itself, a baffled vent from the inner charcoal chamber to the outside.
The outside, in this case, is inside your engine compartment.
In most cases, that's no problem, but in some kind of worst case scenario, if the whole canister gets flooded with liquid fuel and dumps it into the engine compartment, which would then be a fire risk, if there is some spark nearby (not sure what - bad ignition wiring?).
The OEM canister covers that remote possibility with an overflow hose to below the vehicle.
That's my speculation on the 2 designs, anyway.

 

[Bambusiero]

VC120 bottom cover baffled vent.
Mine failed and came off - duct taped back on, venting still open .

 

[roadstr6]

If you don't feel like drilling holes, gooping on sealant, duct tape, etc. just use ACDelco PN# 215-153. It is $72.00 on Amazon. It is essentially the same as the VC120 but it has three ports so you can plug your old ambient air vent hose on the third nipple just like Mr. T intended.

 

[Swbkrn2003]

If you don't feel like drilling holes, gooping on sealant, duct tape, etc. just use ACDelco PN# 215-153. It is $72.00 on Amazon. It is essentially the same as the VC120 but it has three ports so you can plug your old ambient air vent hose on the third nipple just like Mr. T intended.

Which Third Nipple? There's two stacked Tank and Purge and the one by itself says Air. Which nipple did you tie the bottom hose to?

 

[roadstr6]

Which Third Nipple? There's two stacked Tank and Purge and the one by itself says Air. Which nipple did you tie the bottom hose to?

The bottom hose goes to the nipple that is all by itself. The hose barbs on the 215-153 are slightly different than on the OE canister. IIRC I had to step up the bottom hose to a larger size where it goes onto the canister. I just used a spare hose union I had in my bucket of bolts to connect it up. Simple hardware store piece.

 

[Swbkrn2003]

Thank you i figured it out "When All else fails Read the instructions i checked and the cannister is no longer available. Hope this solves the pressure hiss when i open the gas cap! I appreciate your help and suggestion!

 

[Tachycardic]

I just installed the VC-120 last night. A few things to note...

1) Yes, the hose that comes out of the OEM canister is not needed with the VC-120. There is a gap between the plastic bottom and the body--that's where the air gets sucked in.
2) The tank hose barb is bigger than the purge hose barb. The OEM canister and the VC-120 purge hose barbs accept 1/2" inner diameter vacuum hoses. I think the VC-120 tank hose barb is 3/4" ID, but don't quote me on that.
3) You can buy the AC Delco version on Amazon for $73, but you should be able to get the VC-120 from Autozone for $50 with free shipping.
4) Some people us zip ties to secure the clamps; I went with 2.5" stainless steel 1/4" bolts, washers, and nuts from Home Depot. Cost $3.
5) The bottom clamp should be installed upside down so it fits neatly under the fuse box.
6) Assuming you didn't remove the entire bracket assembly like Texas Know How did in his youtube video (I didn't), you should insert the front of the canister down first. Then wiggle it into place.

Good Luck!

 

[Swbkrn2003]

I removed the bracket installed cannister with Bottom hose and used a SS bolt and Nylon Lock but. Look clean an the sir hose is tied in to.my AC Delco part. No more hisssssss

 

[jatree]

I just installed the VC-120 last night. A few things to note...

1) Yes, the hose that comes out of the OEM canister is not needed with the VC-120. There is a gap between the plastic bottom and the body--that's where the air gets sucked in.
2) The tank hose barb is bigger than the purge hose barb. The OEM canister and the VC-120 purge hose barbs accept 1/2" inner diameter vacuum hoses. I think the VC-120 tank hose barb is 3/4" ID, but don't quote me on that.
3) You can buy the AC Delco version on Amazon for $73, but you should be able to get the VC-120 from Autozone for $50 with free shipping.
4) Some people us zip ties to secure the clamps; I went with 2.5" stainless steel 1/4" bolts, washers, and nuts from Home Depot. Cost $3.
5) The bottom clamp should be installed upside down so it fits neatly under the fuse box.
6) Assuming you didn't remove the entire bracket assembly like Texas Know How did in his youtube video (I didn't), you should insert the front of the canister down first. Then wiggle it into place.

Good Luck!

Thanks - planning on installing this today and good to know you can use the same bracket assembly.

 

[jatree]

For those who installed the VC120 - did you use generic bulk fuel hose? And if so, what size since the tank barb definitely seems larger than the original canister. Or is this an area where OEM hoses would be better?