Carbon canister temp question

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Mrmolding

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Hey all! I’m mainly a pre emissions guy. I looked at a 73 Dart for sale today and I noticed that the evap canister was fairly warm after driving it around. I’ve actually never tried to touch one but I brushed up against it and was surprised that it was hot to the touch. Almost a little bit less than engine temp.
Just wondering if this is normal?
Thanks for any noob help!
 
Considering it’s black, it will soak up the heat in the engine bay. As long as it’s cooler than the engine, its nothing to worry about.
 
Ain't it shoved up in there close to the radiator?
 
Yeah, there's no reason it should be getting hot on its own. It would be normal for it to be whatever the temperature in the engine compartment is though, so it wouldn't surprise me if it were fairly hot to the touch.
 
72bluNblu said:
Yeah, there's no reason it should be getting hot on its own. It would be normal for it to be whatever the temperature in the engine compartment is though, so it wouldn't surprise me if it were fairly hot to the touch.
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Thanks! I was wondering how the heck it could be hot? The hoses were sitting on the heater hoses. Carb vent and pcv hoses were all hooked up. But I guess everything is going to get hot or engine temp on a 94 degree day as well.
 
Was it so hot that you couldn't grab it and toss it in the nearest trash can?
 
jos51700 said:
Was it so hot that you couldn't grab it and toss it in the nearest trash can?
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Not a particularly good plan unless you change the fuel tank as well. Otherwise you need to sort out a new way to vent the tank.

It really isn’t a big deal, the fuel tank is vented to the canister, the canister is hooked to carb vacuum to scavenge the fumes in the canister.
 
jos51700 said:
Was it so hot that you couldn't grab it and toss it in the nearest trash can?
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Not my car yet. Car is a survivor but a ca rust free car. But when I grew up with these things I knew no one with an attached garage. Only a parking lot, car port or garage not attached to the house. I recently met an old carpenter that told me they tried to avoid attached garages due to open vapors in the house from tank vents. I used to smoke then too so I’m sure that helped to not notice the vents. I only recently got a house with an attached garage and the fumes were bad when I brought in my 68 Runner. Who thought I’d ever think of wanting a way to plug the tank vent. I actually crawl under the car and put a carbon canister and attach to the tank vent when in garage, but it’s not hooked to engine. I put it by the rear tire and disconnect when I take it out. The smell is totally gone.
But I’d never actually seen one still plugged into a running car! I do really appreciate everyone helping to educate me on this.
 
Mrmolding said:
Not my car yet. Car is a survivor but a ca rust free car. But when I grew up with these things I knew no one with an attached garage. Only a parking lot, car port or garage not attached to the house. I recently met an old carpenter that told me they tried to avoid attached garages due to open vapors in the house from tank vents. I used to smoke then too so I’m sure that helped to not notice the vents. I only recently got a house with an attached garage and the fumes were bad when I brought in my 68 Runner. Who thought I’d ever think of wanting a way to plug the tank vent. I actually crawl under the car and put a carbon canister and attach to the tank vent when in garage, but it’s not hooked to engine. I put it by the rear tire and disconnect when I take it out. The smell is totally gone.
But I’d never actually seen one still plugged into a running car! I do really appreciate everyone helping to educate me on this.
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I have to agree, the carbon cannister was one of the few emissions-era devices that didn't negatively impact performance aside from a little extra weight.
I actually pulled one off a parts car last week and considered keeping it for this reason, but the nipples were broken off so I tossed it. I've debated parking in my attached garage simply due to the fume issue, and the possibility of fumes making it downstairs to the pilot light. I hadn't thought of using the carbon cannister for that.
 
Mrmolding said:
But when I grew up with these things I knew no one with an attached garage. Only a parking lot, car port or garage not attached to the house. I recently met an old carpenter that told me they tried to avoid attached garages due to open vapors in the house from tank vents.
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Ridiculous. I was stationed at NAS Miramar in San Diego for 4 years. I knew several people down there with attached garages. And many of their neighbors had them. I would guess this has more to do with era of the house.......very old were not commonly attached, as this came along primarily after WWII, ......or room aka a small lot, .......or economics
 
67Dart273 said:
Ridiculous. I was stationed at NAS Miramar in San Diego for 4 years. I knew several people down there with attached garages. And many of their neighbors had them. I would guess this has more to do with era of the house.......very old were not commonly attached, as this came along primarily after WWII, ......or room aka a small lot, .......or economics
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EXACTLY. If it were true that vapors coming off a carb would cause the garage to explode there would be huge holes in every neighborhood where they blew up.

As you pointed out, it’s a footprint/econo IC’s issue. It’s cheaper to build an attached garage.
 
Rat Bastid said:
EXACTLY. If it were true that vapors coming off a carb would cause the garage to explode there would be huge holes in every neighborhood where they blew up.

As you pointed out, it’s a footprint/econo IC’s issue. It’s cheaper to build an attached garage.
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Yeah it’s not gonna cause any houses to explode.

But depending on your air temperatures and how well your garage is vented you may get a little bit of a gasoline smell from evaporating gasoline.
 
jos51700 said:
I have to agree, the carbon cannister was one of the few emissions-era devices that didn't negatively impact performance aside from a little extra weight.
I actually pulled one off a parts car last week and considered keeping it for this reason, but the nipples were broken off so I tossed it. I've debated parking in my attached garage simply due to the fume issue, and the possibility of fumes making it downstairs to the pilot light. I hadn't thought of using the carbon cannister for that.
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Plus, if they're working correctly, they can actually increase fuel mileage versus not having them.
 
67Dart273 said:
Ridiculous. I was stationed at NAS Miramar in San Diego for 4 years. I knew several people down there with attached garages. And many of their neighbors had them. I would guess this has more to do with era of the house.......very old were not commonly attached, as this came along primarily after WWII, ......or room aka a small lot, .......or economics
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Just repeating what the "old timer" custom home builder said. I lived in the mid-south for most of my life and now live out here due to a job. Maybe gas hangs in more humid climates? Who knows. But I do remember seeing attached garages but not where I grew up in Virginia. Anyway, I was not mentioning houses blowing up, but my current garage is vented but there is no question that it does smell like I have a lawn mower in it unless I attach the canister. Anyway, I do appreciate everyone's help! I've been b-body guy for years but grew up with a-bodies as my daily drivers. Just trying to figure out if I wanted to get another a body.
 
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Mrmolding said:
Just repeating what the "old timer" custom home builder said. I lived in the mid-south for most of my life and now live out here due to a job. Maybe gas hangs in more humid climates? Who knows. But I do remember seeing attached garages but not where I grew up in Virginia. Anyway, I was not mentioning houses blowing up, but my current garage is vented but there is no question that it does smell like I have a lawn mower in it unless I attach the canister. Anyway, I do appreciate everyone's help! I've been b-body guy for years but grew up with a-bodies as my daily drivers. Just trying to figure out if I wanted to get another a body.
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Oh totally, the fuel smell is a somewhat common complaint for people with attached garages, I’ve heard it before.

It’s not anymore dangerous than storing any car with fuel in it, but it you can definitely smell it.

Smells in general tend to hang around longer in humid weather. Hotter temperatures would tend to evaporate more fuel, but it would also dissipate the smell faster. Cold temps would evaporate less, but what has evaporated would hang around longer. Lukewarm and humid would probably be the worst!
 
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