Evap Codes - Camry

[coopns]

02 Camry. Evap Codes. Cleared the codes.

Tried replacing gas cap, light stayed off for 2 days. Codes back.

Had it in to shop and he said charcoal canister needs replacing. He said it is a dealer part. I saw them on ebay, could I go that route? Looks like a fairly complicated fix to replace.

Just wondering can I continue to drive the car for another 6 months (till inspection) with a bad charcole canister? What does that even do? I just drive it about 20 easy miles a day.

Please advise.

 

[bullwinkle]

Had this on the xB in my sig, got the charcoal canister from Amazon, got a set of fuel line tools from AZ's rent-a-tool loaner program, fairly easy fix. Although you won't hurt anything to drive it that way.

 

[dave180]

Your canister and the vacuum switching valve are under the car and exposed to winter weather. A common problem on Toyota is the VSV rusts to the point it is non-functional. If it does not work, it will appear your charcoal canister is defective. Save some money and get a second opinion to double check the diagnosis. The VSV is cheap and available at AAP.

 

[raytseng]

There's a TSB checklist for Toyota/Lexus that goes through what a tech is supposed to do.
If they just jump to the replace the canister that the EVAP code indicates, that is not the right step; they should do the diagnostics.

I don't recall where the TSB is, but you should do some googling to find it.

The first step is to first check that all your vacuum hoses are connected, and no leaks. There may also be some hoses behind the engine. Knock this one out before moving forward and just replacing parts.

If your engine is not puttering or making weird noises, You can drive the 6months, but you are slightly polluting the environment more than needed.
It may take some time to get this fixed, so if you have time, get started on it sooner before your deadline hits

 

[Nick1994]

My brothers Lexus has the same issues but what fixed them is replacing these little electrical/vacuum switching things. I'll see if I can get a picture. They're right in between the individual coil pack spark plug wires (if your car is a v6)

 

[Nick1994]

They look similar to this

 

[Vikas]

If you figure it out, please update this topic. I have essentially given up on fixing the evaporator code on my 99 Camry. Fortunately, it is now exempt from the OBD-II test in my state but the CEL has been bugging me to no end.