Fuel seeping from charcoal canister!

[Baxta]

About 100 miles from my last fill, (after I topped up the tank pretty aggressively) I returned home and when I shut the van down, I heard a gurgling sound from the driver rear. I didn't think it was coolant, and I was right. The sound was coming from the charcoal canister in the drivers' rear wheel well. I rushed around and pulled the gas cap, which came off with a whoosh, and the gurgling stopped. Checking the canister again, I saw that the bottom seam was wet with fuel. I pulled the canister and a few tablespoons of gas and some crunchy bits of charcoal pellets came out of the bottom of the canister and hose. I put the end of the hose as low as I could,draining out as much liquid as I could. I haven't started the van back up yet. On the top side, I could blow through the fuel line, but couldn't blow through the line connected to the valve in the engine bay.

After spending an hour or so going over many useful posts, here's what I think happened. I pushed the few tbsps of gas into the vent system, which created a blockage in the lower line. Pulling the lower line and draining it, I hope that the rest of the fuel in the line will end up vaporizing and getting reintroduced into the system as it should.

Experts - how's my theory sound?

Morons (like me!) - don't overfill your gas tank!


Thanks for listening,



Greg
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Greg
'87 Syncro Westy 'Bastian'
2.2l

[insyncro]

Check all vent lines.
Reseal the tank if needed.
Do not overfill your tank.

[Baxta]

Thanks for the advice, but how does my theory sound?

This morning, the bottom of the canister was still wet with gas. I pulled the lower hose off and another teaspoon or so of fuel, along with another few dozen grains of charcoal came out of the line and canister. I left it to drain on some rags for the day and I'll take another look once I get home this afternoon.

Having just had my trans rebuilt last summer, I'm not looking forward too much to dropping the trans *again* to redo the tank, but I guess that's what winter projects are for, huh?
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Greg
'87 Syncro Westy 'Bastian'
2.2l

[presslab]

It sounds like your engine is not sucking in the fuel vapor like it should, and then the fuel is accumulating inside the canister. On the throttle body there is a vacuum port that is activated just off idle, and this port in turn actuates the valve to open the canister into the intake manifold. Check these connections, and verify that the valve is working when you crack the throttle.

A likely source of problems is the restrictor in the hose leading to the valve. You should be able to blow/suck through the small hose on the valve.

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1986 Vanagon Westfalia EJ25
1988 Subaru GL-10 EJ20G --- 2000 Honda XR650L
2010 Titus El Guapo --- 2011 On-One 456 Ti

[Vanagon Nut]

@ the OP. The image on P 20.33 may be slightly incorrect. I don't know if it's different for the Syncro, or the Euro version of the 2.1, but on my 2.1 there's no vacuum advance on the distributor. As per presslabs comments, that hose goes to the TB.

Edited for clarity:

This is one point I thought might've been incorrect on my 2.1 but I found that with hose removed from the rubber "T", once vacuum was applied to the charcoal filter valve, at that point, I could then suck air through that hose I had disconnected. Otherwise, that isn't (shouldn't) be possible.

I see a restrictor in the small opening of rubber "T" boot on the air distributor.

But maybe the Syncro is different in that regard?

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA
(VW Gas I4)

1988 Westy DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Baxta]

Thanks. Yeah, the Syncro is the same - the diagram in the engine bay (the sticker above) is correct - the vacuum line ports off of the TB, not the distributor.

Another question - where does the vent fuel hose that goes into the top of the canister go to directly? The diagram says vent line - does that mean that my theory makes sense?

I'm thinking that I pushed gas into the vent line when I overfilled the tank, then the liquid gas seeped down through the canister to the point where it filled the line that returns to the air filter housing. Does this make sense, or is it just too far from the filler neck to the vent line to be a reasonable theory?
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Greg
'87 Syncro Westy 'Bastian'
2.2l

[Vanagon Nut]

[bluebus86]

On my 1986 vanagon the breather for the cannister (vent to air) was clogged with a spider nest, cleaned it out and added a "thimble" I made from screen door material that i pushed into the vent hole to keep spiders out.


Also On some vans, they did not route the hoses as per factoy manual, On my air cleaner the hose fitting for the cannister was sealed off. This is how she came from the factory. (original owner family)

So there is a miss mash of different hose routing on this system.
note my van also had some unique wiring, a combination of the early and late 1986 wire diagrams, with a few extra bits thrown in, and removed! (which caused me to have low voltage at the coil, all current went thru the key switch, no relay) again this is the way it came from the factory.

[Vanagon Nut]

[Baxta]

Thanks guys. I was running around taking care of bigger problems today - our TDI Jetta decided to dump all of its oil into the exhaust tract.

Anyhow, after finally getting home, I attached a hose to the bottom cent hose and I used my mouth to blow/suck the remaining gas out of the vent line to wherever it vents to. I felt the line clear and after reinstalling the line on the canister and putting the gas cap back on, I took it out for a 5 minute spin around the block. After an initial stutter she worked just fine. I hope that when I wake up tomorrow I'll only have 1 VW in the sick bay.

My guess still remains mostly the same - either I splashed gas into the venting that goes to the canister or when the fuel expanded after leaving the gas station but had nowhere but the vent lines to go to. I've learned my lesson about overfilling the tank, and I'm hoping that's that.


Cheers!
_________________
Greg
'87 Syncro Westy 'Bastian'
2.2l