Help - EVAP canister replacement

[tinman999]

HI, I am a recent 2003 Vibe owner. Love the car and this forum, but recently had a P0446 CEL which was diagnosed by mechanic to needing a EVAP/Vapor/charcoal canister replacement which he wanted $284 for parts and labor.I see that I can get this vapor canister for ~$115 online and was wondering how difficult it would be to replace myself. Has anyone done this job? Any difficulties or hints?Thanks much

[Sublimewind]

I've never done the job myself, but it can't be that difficult... I beleave it's located under the rear tucked up into the bottom portion if the rear quarter panel, but, i'm not 100% on that... as far as the work, it's can't be more than a few bolts and some clips for the hoses going into/out of it...

[Whelan]

Welcome bro, sucks to hear your first post be about an issue. But I just noticed you live near my future cousin in laws. I think they live either in Nashua or Milford, NH. Somewhere right in your area. Anyways, good luck with the work. If you want, head to matrixowners.com and download the complete service manual. Most of the stuff is identical to the Trix except body paneling and a few smaller items. But basically the same follow throughs.

[Mojo72]

I'm having the same Evap System CEL w/ my 2004 that I bought used from a private seller in Jan08 at 68,800 miles. After having the CEL cleared, I was told to follow 3 steps before replacing the cannister. (1) Make sure the gas cap is fully tightened after refueling by ratcheting the gas cap at least 3 times to ensure a tight seal. (2) Replace gas cap if CEL persists.(3) Get Evap System "smoke checked" for leaks in the hoses before moving to last resort of replacing the charcoal cannister.My car's CEL just tripped again after approx. 75 miles, which I understand from another GenVibe forum is the amount of miles necessary to reset the computer. So it looks like I'm moving to Step 2 for a fuel cap replacement. Is it possible that a line might have become disconnected and is it worth my time and effort to get at the cannister and inspect the hoses before spending money for a replacement gas cap?

[ToolGuy]

Quote, originally posted by Mojo72 »I'm having the same Evap System CEL w/ my 2004 that I bought used from a private seller in Jan08 at 68,800 miles. After having the CEL cleared, I was told to follow 3 steps before replacing the canister. (1) Make sure the gas cap is fully tightened after refueling by ratcheting the gas cap at least 3 times to ensure a tight seal. (2) Replace gas cap if CEL persists.(3) Get Evap System "smoke checked" for leaks in the hoses before moving to last resort of replacing the charcoal canister.My car's CEL just tripped again after approx. 75 miles, which I understand from another GenVibe forum is the amount of miles necessary to reset the computer. So it looks like I'm moving to Step 2 for a fuel cap replacement. Is it possible that a line might have become disconnected and is it worth my time and effort to get at the canister and inspect the hoses before spending money for a replacement gas cap?If a line had an issue I think you would be getting the code very often. I replaced my cap and never looked back. I did not get a cap from a dealer but the local auto store. The drawback to these caps are the line tether is not on the cap like the original but the price was cheap.

[tinman999]

Fixed my P0446 code by replacing the VSV valve attached to the Charcoal Canister. I took the assembly apart and saw that there was no charcoal pieces in the valve so I knew that the canister was OK, charcoal not breaking down. The VSV valve gets rusty and needs to be replaced. The valve is normally closed, so when you blow into the inlet or outlet, no air should flow out. Mine was stuck open defective. Toyota VSV part from local dealer was $48.Several thousand miles later, CEL problem is fixed.

[Mojo72]

My EVAP problem ended up being an easy fix. The factory gas cap had a tear in the gasket, so I replaced it with a Gates generic gas cap (approx. $6.40), cleared the code, and have been Chk Eng free ever since.