garyc17

Will a faulty charcoal canister cause petrol fumes to leak into the engine bay? I am getting a very strong smell of petrol fumes in the engine bay near the fuel filter. The smell is very strong near the fuel filter. When I move the tube that is secured to the metal plate of the fuel filter, the smell goes away. It returns shortly. This tube is connected to the charcoal canister. Is my charcoal canister faulty? I have checked all fuel lines and there is no leak anywhere.

fmrprojects

yeah your canister is probably saturated with fuel thats why it smells a lot. this happens because a lot of ppl like to top off their gas tanks when they fill up. the pump stops for a reason. but yeah u need a new canister

garyc17

Fmrprojects dude, so you are very certain changing that out will solve the fuel smell problem? Don't wish to spend unnecessary money on it as I hear this canister hardly fails. Can you explain to me what this canister does anyway? Why would fuel be trapped inside?

garyc17

Alright, I just reconnected a hose from the charcoal cansiter to the intake manifold. My petrol smell is now gone. The previous owner had the intake manifold vacuum source sealed with a short hose with a screw on the end. With that setup, I was getting very bad fuel smell in my engine bay after I come to a stop. I checked and found a hose for the canister disconnected with a cable tie at the hose end. I suspected it was disconnected for some reason. Perhaps more consistent car performance instead of exhaust fumes going to the manifold occassionally? From what I gathered, the petrol tank is linked to the canister for fuel evaporation and expansion in the fuel tank. Although I have solved the petrol smell, I am not sure if I have done this right? Or is this hose suppose to be left hanging to the bottom of the car. This hose connects to the top of the canister. The larger hose connected to the bottom of the canister is not connected to anywhere. Then there is two more hoses on the top of the can. The large one goes to the throttle body and the small one goes to a fuel line. Is this the right way of connection? I have a 1996 DX hatch which has a different charcoal canister system compared to the 99+ hatch.