evap canister removal

[runyontom]

I recently removed the evap canister (aka, charcoal canister) from my 95 EVC and thought I would post some instructions. I removed the canister after experiencing high gas tank pressure and inability to fill gas tank except at very slow rate. Clogged evap canister seems to be a fairly common problem. The canister is located behind the driver's side front tire and is held in place with a metal strap (see photos).

Getting the strap off is a PITA. The strap extends through two slots. You should remove the strap from the inboard side. The strap on this side has two tabs each bent in opposite directions that hold the strap in the slot.

You will have to pry on the strap to get the tabs to bend and allow the strap to be removed. Once you get the tabs through the slot, the strap will release. Rather than using the old strap, I used a long hose clamp that I fed through the slots. This holds the canister in place and can be easily removed.

Lastly, it seemed as though the canister was clogged but I shook it up and restored flow through it. They still sell them at Europarts-SD.

The canister for this model year has two openings - a top opening with hose connected to fuel tank and a bottom opening that vents directly to outside. It would appear that this model year does not have a vent valve which would normally be closed so vapors from canister would vent back to intake manifold through evap purge valve. This seems strange as these evap systems should be capable of being closed systems. Anyway, I hope this helps. Last photo shows the two slots through which the straps (or hose clamp) pass through.

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1995 Eurovan Camper, 5-spd

[jimbomitch]

Thank you for taking the time to post that. Very helpful since the question about removal has been asked but not answered, other than cutting the strap.

[JMB3]

On my 1997, the outboard end of the strap is just a right-angle bend, like yours. I found that if I grasped the strap with some curved needle-nose and gave the strap a bit of a twist while pushing in the inboard direction, the strap came free. https://vweurovan.fandom.com/wiki/Special:Images?file=Canister1.jpg

[swsl]

I don't know how different the late model EVs are but I had huge trouble getting the hoses off. The hose clamps just did not want to release. They are a very clever design where you push just so and if all is moving well, they release. Or not. I actually had to just drop the cannister with one hose connected as I could never get it off no matter what and I don't give up easily!

Anybody have experience / advice with those hoses and clamps? I dried my cannister out last time and it's worked fine for 2 years, but it looks like I may need to go back into it soon and swap out the carbon.

Steve
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2002 EV WK