Already did a search, like a good boy should , and came up with nothing relevant to my question.

While cleaning and painting various engine bay pieces, I came across what appeared to be two charcoal canisters. On the 13B, one canister is located under the air filter assembly (that IS a charcoal canister right?), one big hose going in one end, and another hose coming out the other end. The other I have found is next to the washer fluid container, with two small vacuum tubes on the top.

Now, what I'm wondering is, are these things that EVER need replacing? And, when my car last went in for emissions, it passed easily (A friend who used to be a mechanic said that those would only need to be replaced if I failed emissions).

So, 1). That one under the air filter, is that a charcoal canister?
and 2). Do either of these two ever need replacing?

 

The 1st thing you are talking about is not a charcoal canister. It is the air silencer, if I understand what you are talking about correctly. Any air from the air pump that is not injected into the cats or the exhaust ports exits through that chamber. Just a muffler, really.

The 2nd thing is the charcoal canister. I have never heard of someone needing to replace (unless they get clogged up or something). I suppose they may become less effective with time. Basically, it just captures fumes from the gas tank. The fumes are then routed into the intake when the car is running. It should have no influence on the emissions out of the exhaust. Car companies do need to do things like this to control other sources of emissions (fuel vapors).

 

I've seen them needing replaced on some piston engines, due to emission/carb issues, but have only heard of 1 case on the forum. With all of them that get tossed, a decent used one shouldn't be hard to find if you ever need one.

 

so its important to retain it or could be route the gas tank fumes to the carb?

 

I ditched mine.

 

when i had run my car with out it i could see fume vapours comin from the tubes
it could cause a fire with out it

 

oh really? well ****. I threw it away......what if I put a hose that connects the 2 holes.

 

then i think vapours go tot he crank case iv forgot

 

Theres no good reason to remove the canister.Its not heavy and it has no impact on HP.There are safety issues with fuel tank pressure and fuel vapors,but many dismiss them and prefer to have a simplified engine bay.

The main cause of problems with the charcoal canisters is from overfilling(topping off) the fuel tank.Liquid gasoline can get into the vapor lines and foul up the insides of the canister,which is designed to only handle vapors.They should last the life of the car,in normal circumstances.
Its a very simple and passive system.Except that on the rotary,the fuel vapor recovery and the crankcase vapor recovery systems are intermingled.This makes them different,but not much more complex,than a typical piston engine's vapor recovery systems.

 

people will remove a **** to get 0.01 hp. its kinda rediculous. but some people just do it to make more room in the engine bay.

 

Yes, and power to weight is a big factor when talking 7s

I removed mine along with the steel tube going to the crankcase and just pinched the one going to the gas tank

 

if you remove it, drill a small hole in the gas cap so the pressure from the tank has a place to release itself.

 

Couldn't agree more, no reason to remove it.

 

Instead of making a new thread, I will bump this quite old one with my question.

I have removed my canister before, and the hardline was left running into the engine bay. Well,
now I will be removing the hard line. I am sure that there is a rubber hose that connects the
hard line to a nipple on the tank... Should I pinch/block that off? I am leaning more towards just
sticking one of those itsy-bitsy filters people put on the oil tube nipple. Would this be adequate?

 

Should be fine and will keep the vapors out of the engine bay.