Cracked evap canister on 2002 Town and Country

rjudd

Took the van to the dealer for a check engine light and was told that I have a cracked evap canister. When I looked for the cansiter I found what looks to be two canisters. Do these vans have two canisters? Or are they different? How do I tell the difference?

Any suggestions would be great!

cactus8

I've got the same problem on same model & yr. minivan.
How was your problem resolved?
I am not too excited about paying $400 for new plastic part.
Cautus6

rjudd

After I got the van diagnosed by the dealer I got underneath the van to find the canister. It is easily identifiable as the bigger black box looking thing with one hose coming out the bottom and two hoses coming out the top. It is about the middle of the vehicle and is the black box closer to the rear of the van. It takes about 15 minutes to remove so that is what I did. When I got it out the problem was obvious. There were cracks along the top and some of the charcoal/carbon pellets could fit through the cracks. I remembered scraping the bottom of the van on a dirt road so that must have caused the cracks.

The dealer wanted $75 for just the part so I decided to see if I could fix it myself. I took some JB Weld and coated the entire top surface which included all the cracks. I let it cure and put it back on. That solved the problem.

If you can't fix it then you should be able to get the part for around $75. Try calling a different dealer and ask them to price out the evap canister.

Just post if you have anymore questions and I'll try and answer them.

marcelod

RJudd,

I have a Town & Country minivan (2002) and I had transmission broken and replaced a month ago.
I've had gas smelling inside and outside the car for some time and I'm not sure if it has been happening after transmission problem, because my wife drives this car and she is not sure.
I was talking to a friend today and he told me that this problem could be because of canister, as well.
After reading your answer above it seems to me that it can be true.
Would you have any comment about this gas smelling problem and canister, please?

Any comment is really appreciated.
Thanks,
Marcelo

rjudd

The crack in my evap canister was very servere, big enough to allow the small carbon pellets to come out and there was never a smell of gas. So my experience would point to something else. There is a line if I remember right that goes from the gas tank to the canister so maybe that has been damaged.

Check your fuel lines and intake manifolds and such.

Wish I had more to offer.

Good luck!