Where is the Evap Canister?

[BillHoo]

Among the dings that the local service station found for my safety inspection was a "broken evap canister hose".

Where is that located in a 00 Contour? Can I just use a piece of fuel line hose of the the appropriate diameter?

I could not check the 00 Contour wreck I found this morning at the local pick n pull yard as the car was sunk in the mud.

I tried googling it and could not find a diagram. Also tried to see if I could find the part on Rock Auto, but they have the canister and not the hose that connects to it.

 

[gmorrell]

The Contour evap canister is under the trunk, it's mounted to the bottom of the spare tire well, outside the car. There's a goodly number of hoses associated with the canister and the evap hardware that's underhood, you will have to crawl underneath and inspect everything if the tech didn't give you any clues.

 

[BillHoo]

Thanks! I have a Nissan altima and the Evap Canister is in front of the the driver side wheel well, so I had been looking around there on my Contour with a mirror and not seeing it.

I think I know where it is as I can see something dangling from the the rear of the car when I walk to it in the parking lot. Just as you described it.

I'm jacking up the car this weekend to tinker.

Thanks!

 

[BillHoo]

OK. I didn't need to jack up the car. I just poke my head under the bumper and found the Evap canister hose.

Doesn't quite look like the hose. Actually looks like part of the evap canister broke off and the hose just dangled. I snapped a few picks.

[/img]

I'll have to see about getting a new evap canister now.

I hate rusty bolts! I'm dreading going under and trying to pull this evap canister now!

 

[BillHoo]

I'm not sure what I am looking at in the photo.

Looking at pictures of the Evap canister from eBay and Rock Auto, it does not look like the part on the car. I'm thinking that is the Evap Canister Solenoid that has broken off? A bit cheaper than the evap canister ($106) vs the evap canister solenoid ($42)

Too bad that 00 Contour I found at the pick-n-pull is half sunk in the mud!

I'm thinking it's that big fat hose connector part of the solenoid that cracked off, as in the left part of the photo below from rock auto:

 

[BillHoo]

Got the evap canister solenoid today.

Didn't even have to Jack up the car.

Crawled under and first sprayed the two rusted bolts with Liquid Wrench penetrating oil.

Removed bolts with 8mm socket and wratchet. The metal pan that the canister and solenoid rest on just swings down for access.

Pulled out the old part (I'll put up photos later) and squeezed a tab to disconnect the wiring harness.

Plugged the new solenoid in and pushed the plastic connector into the evap cannister.

I used a pair of pliers to remove bits of plastic stuck in the hose from the old solenoid.

Then I used a zip tie to tie down the hose to the pan via the screw holes. Then plugged the hose into the solenoid.

Swung the pan up and screwed the two bolts back in.

Done! Saved maybe $275 from having the dealer do it. Total cost to me was about $46 and a lot of sweat on this hot day. This is perhaps one of the easiest repairs I've had to do on this car.

 

[gmorrell]

Good to hear it was a cheap, easy fix, am surprised you didn't have an P0446 EVAP code for that. These cars are know for throwing EVAP codes, P0445 is common, P0442 occasionally, and often for unknown reasons, or perhaps the phase of the moon, or it's your car's "...that time of the month."

 

[BillHoo]

Only emissions related code I've had lately is a Lean Condition code. I hope the service station I used will reopen this year, so I can continue to be waived the emissions testing since the car is technically a hybrid CNG car.