I can. I wasn’t being entirely serious, you know. 
Good information, db. I learn something new most every day. 
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So, I sent a few questions to my mechanic and he got back to me. He says he did do a smoke test and in my case it is definitely the canister and not something else. Will get a second opinion anyway.
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Here’s a weird question. After the diagnostics (see initial post) the mechanic left the ‘check engine’ light on, and it’s been on until, well, this morning. It is now off. Do those things turn off if the errors are old, or did it burn out on top of everything else? 
The OBDII system will automatically turn the Check Engine light off after so many key cycles, if the problem no longer exists.
Tester
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[quote=“Tester, post:45, topic:96982, full:true”]
The OBDII system will automatically turn the Check Engine light off after so many key cycles, if the problem no longer exists.[/quote]
Ah, I see. It’s weird. Today it was actually pretty cold in the morning, sort of perfect conditions for my evap system to go nuts… Very weird.
Just to update here… It’s really strange, but it hasn’t happened since, though we had plenty of cold mornings. I actually canceled the second opinion appt just to see what happens. Could it really be that the canister actually “dried out,” as several people posted above?
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I don’t believe drying out a canister will cure a large evaporative emission system leak. Perhaps your mechanic reconnected or repaired a hose that he noticed was loose.
I actually asked the guy if they did any repairs. According to him, all they did was a smoke test and nothing else. Maybe I should just wait for a colder day…
And of course it happened again. Back to rescheduling that appointment we go.
I was finally able to record the weird noise I mentioned above. The recording is here (dropbox), the noise is at approx 3 seconds. Any thoughts on what this could be will be highly appreciated. As far as I can remember, this only happens on the first engine start on a particularly cold morning, or after a cool night with rain.
Thanks!
Technical difficulties prevent me from listening to your sound recording. But I got to thinking I’ve heard a whooshing sound similar to what you describe when I’m testing my truck’s carb. I’ll partially cover the carb’s air intake area with a piece of hardboard to check the airflow patterns with the engine idling. And at a certain blockage level there’s a clearly audible whooshing sound emitted as air rushes around the edge of the cardboard and into the engine. So I’m wondering if maybe you have some kind of obstruction in the air inflow path before the throttle valve. First step is probably to check for leaves/debris in the air intake path before the air filter housing. Sometimes critters will try to build a nest in that area.
This may be a sound theory, but if I shut the engine down right away and restart it, the sound is gone. Not sure how an obstruction would be cleared this way to be back in particular weather…
The grinding noise in the audio clip is from the starter drive, it fails to retract when the engine starts. Replacing the starter assembly is the common fix for this but someone here might instruct you on how to polish and lubricate that starter drive.
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Thanks so much! Only after recording and listening at home I realized that the noise is indeed grinding. It sort of sounds like a nasty swoosh live.
So, here’s the continuation of the saga… I took it to this guy (seems like an awesome dude, btw) and he changed the gas cap, which in my case was completely destroyed.
Couldn’t reproduce starter noise (the car was warm), but from listening to my beautiful recording did say that it sounds like the starter stays engaged. Quoted $360 total for a genuine starter replacement and hated the idea of an aftermarket starter. Re: my other topic about loud bang, said it’s very unlikely that there are any issues with my transmission. So, this is where we are.
Your starter was almost certainly built by Denso
You could get a Denso starter, minus the Toyota name, and save some money, if the idea of an aftermarket starter bothers you
If you need one, that’s definitely a good price for a Corolla oem starter, parts and labor.
Your decision, but my recommendation is to always buy Toyota or in case of Denso genuine parts, not brand X. Some people have bought brand X gas caps and they didn’t work any better than bad part.
If you plan to keep a car very long, use the expensive Toyota parts, or Denso if you can get them.
My 2002 Sienna, now parked with 220,000 miles on it due to Mexican law changes, had an intermittent canister. Others have had the same problem. There were self-actuating valves that apparently got sticky. As we learned in August, Ahem, you may have a problem getting someone to replace a canister if you change your mind. The current business model for mechanics makes it nearly impossible to repair an intermittent problem.
“As we learned in August, Ahem, you may have a problem getting someone to replace a canister if you change your mind. The current business model for mechanics makes it nearly impossible to repair an intermittent problem.”
By the way, I saw that 3 ton snap on jack on the tool truck last week, and it seemed okay. But it was definitely not a re-branded Hein Werner. It was painted red, had a pretty good sized and sturdy looking frame, but the casters were all black. I’m not sure if the casters were painted steel, or if they were some kind of composite material. Also, it was one of those “low profile” jacks, which you probably don’t need. The price was about $600, which I feel is too steep, especially when you consider it is NOT made in USA
It seemed fairly durable, but I’m kind of disappointed that they chose to label it as Snap On. I feel it should have been labeled Blue Point, because it’s made in China. Or if they insist on calling it Snap On, at least make sure it’s made in USA. They could have re-branded that Hein Werner and still made a handsome profit, but I guess greed got the better of them