FrankT

How did you remove the the charcoal canister?
I was going to do that to test it on the bench, but I could not get it to fit between the axle. Did I give up too soon?

I unbolted the canister assembly so I could access it around the differential and axles
It was a major drag trying to test the vsv and even the hoses were a big pain to get to.
My hands were not able to function very well in that tight space. It was very hard to remove hoses and connectors, and after an hour of testing and pulling most all hoses, I button it back up.

My conclusion is that the canister is saturated with gas. vsv opened and closed

My wife tells me, the CEL came on again. p0446

Looks like I'll be ordering a new assembly.
CANISTER ASSY, CHARCOAL 7774030261 $280 shipped

MU521

That completeley sucks. did u know what hose it was?

darrylg33

I know you say you don't have the patience, but you'd be doing a great service to the community--there's a lot of GS drivers motoring around with the dreaded p0446 CEL---me included...

FrankT

Update...

The new charcoal canister came in, I had some time yesterday to do a remove and replace.

Here is how I did it without messing with the rear hub and rear control arms, please refer to the diagram below.
I did not take pics, it was very dirty under there and dirt was landing on my face.
Once I had the car jacked up I was done in 90 minutes...

• Jack up and properly support the passenger side rear of the car.
• Remove passenger side rear wheel.
• Remove the rear suspension brace, both sides.
• Removed the 3 nuts that hold the canister and disconnecting 3 hoses and the 2 connectors.
• Remove the charcoal canister mounting bracket, 2 bolts on the right side of the assembly.
• Remove the 6 10mm allen head bolts that hold the RH rear drive shaft to the differential. Mark the alignment of the axle to the differential.
• Carefully push the axle outward and drop it down to the side.
• Remove the rubber band type hangers that supports the exhaust pipes. this will give you enough room to move the drive shaft a few more inches out of the way.
• Remove the charcoal canister assembly. It might take you a few minutes to fit it through the opening.
• Replacing the new assembly is reverse of removal, including removing the mounting bracket on the right side of the assembly.
• Torque the drive shaft bolts to 61 ft/lbs in a cross pattern

Rich23

iTrader: (3)

Check all vacuum hoses as TLCoats and the VSV as **** said. I must have had this problem with 3 out of my 5 GS's and its always been one or the other. The canister is build to last the life of the car although people claim to have them changed at 100k. The only thing that goes are really the vsv's they get stuck open... Its really a cheap fix and easy access. There is a write up on this, do a search.

First thing you should do if you havent done so is change your gas cap. Next then check hoses and change VSV, it should be like a $40-$60 fix... I would change all three...

FrankT

In my case all the hoses looked good and the VSV opened and closed with voltage.
It was awful testing and checking the canister assembly while still above the differential.

I just went ahead and purchased a whole new assembly.
I was finished testing, checking and studying the whole EVAP system in the car.
There also seemed to be quite a bit of gas inside the canister when I used a vacuum pump.
I also wanted closure, this is my wife's car and she been looking at a CEL for about 6 months and inspection is due.

The end result was that P0446 cleared on its own, and she is grateful...

LexusPia

FrankT, when you were having issues with the old charcoal canister, did you experience any problems during fill-ups at the gas station like not being able to hold the gas pump lever all the way wide open while filling? Also, does the charcoal canister need any type of maintenance like cleaning every so often?

FrankT

Fill ups were normal, sometimes it won't fill with the pump lever wide open, but that's only with some nosle types.

As far as maintenance, there is no maintenance for the canister.

TonyN

iTrader: (1)

bumping this old thread since it has instruction. I read about every thread regarding this and maybe i am missing it but to change the VSV you still need to get to the canister under the car right? it is attached to or next to the canister?basically your doing pretty much most of the labor just cheaper part?

I will be checking the hoses tonight and then see if the VSV is rusted ( the one under the car by the rear wheel), is there anything else I am missing? if all goes well I guess I will replace the VSV and clean the canister out with air.

Also can anyone please confirm this is the correct VSV, it is listed as correct but wanted to varify it is correct

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...S300-2000.html

FrankT

Yes Tony, to get to the VSV in question one needs to remove the canister...
Others say they have done it without removal, I tried and I could not do it, may be you might have better luck.

You can test the VSV, once out, with a 9volt battery.

Be careful using air, you don't want to damage any of the components of the canister.

Good luck.

TonyN

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the response FrankT.

I acutally just ordered the VSV for a little under $40 shipped, so I am just going to replace it anyways.
BTW I know we have the 02 simulator and other mods that uses resitors to trick the ecu thinking everything is in working order, is there one for the GS Evap? This will buy some members time while saving up for the parts if they need to pass emission.

FrankT

A EVAP sim, I hear yea, I guess you would figure out the correct resistance the pressure sensor sends the ECU for feedback within correct perameters.

TonyN

iTrader: (1)

yeah I am not that savy when it comes to that thing, but it would be a great benifit to the community if someone could come up with a DIY for the resitor or sim like for the 02

4play4dr

Definitely would help alot if someone knew how to bypass that evap for emissions..vsv sounds jus as hard to change as the canister

porn-adkt

iTrader: (37)

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