My check engine light came on and they say I need a new charcoal canister to the tune of 500.00. Parts and labor. Any help here. They say there isn’t any after market parts. Any way to “fix” the problem without buying a whole new unit? I have till the end of November to get it fixed. I have two other Toyota’s with over 150,000 each and never had a problem with them. Please help… Thanks Rick
I’ve been told you can foul these things up by overfilling the gas tank. Who knows. I also once had to clear one on a motorcycle and did it by taking it off the bike, disconnecting all the hoses and putting it in the hot sun for a couple of days to evaporate everything out of it. Might work for you, and it certainly is cheap to try.
Certain makes/models are susceptible to canister problems due to overfilling the gas tank. Apparently Toyota is one such make, since we get a number of posts from Toyota owners on this very problem.
The above suggestion by wentwest sounds promising. I would certainly recommend you give it a try.
i agree with the “let it dry out” theory.
next time DON’T fill the tank past the nozzle auto shut off click. when you over fill the tank, the excess gas runs down the over fill hose and fills the charcoal canister saturating it, causing this code.
hopefully by letting it dry out you can let it come back to no codes.
How did the mechanic determine this? Is it broken (cracked from impact)? Is it full of fuel?
~Michael
If you don’t overfill the gas tank anymore, it should clear itself in a couple of weeks.