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GRRRRRRRR!!!
As many of you might know from my post about 6 or 7 pages back, I replaced the Beastie's original equipment charcoal canister, or "Evaporative Loss Control Device" (I just love that name!) a week or so ago. It was a much more of a hassle than it should have been, like most of the routine things I do on this machine. You can read about it by clicking that "Previous posts from Monster" thing up there.
The reason I did it was because I was looking for vacuum problems. I discovered in the course of troubleshooting that the valve diaphram on top of the ELCD had ruptured, as could be seen by trying to draw vacuum on the uppermost, or "control," hose coming out of it. After replacing the blasted thing, I still had the same vacuum problem (insufficient vac during decel) I had had before, so it turned out not to be the cause of the problem, even though it was definitely bad.
All the ELCD does is allow the engine to suck in some gasoline fumes siphoned from the fuel tank, and thus prevent those fumes from going directly to the atmosphere. Nice from an environmental standpoint, I suppose -- the car doesn't stink while sitting still, because the fumes are captured in that charcoal box. But it's completely unnecessary in terms of engine performance.
So yesterday I was troubleshooting around with my Mi-T-Vac handpump, taking vacuum hoses off the engine one-by-one and then pumping on them individually to see which ones held vacuum. I finally found a split in a vacuum line hidden under the intake manifold, put in a new line, and Voila!, my vacuum problem was solved. The vac/boost gauge on the dash drops all the way to the bottom of the white region on decel now, which is like 30 inches of vacuum. Tight!
Just for laughs, though, while I was systematically looking for vac leaks, I tested my BRAND NEW ELCD, and found that the diaphram on the top of the thing was ruptured!!! What the &$#*%!??? Sheesh. That new part lasted all of one week or less.
I know what you're thinking: "Yeah, Monster, you were out there screaming at 4/5 redzone boost and blew the diaphram out!" Honest, I wasn't. I haven't tortured the new ELCD with any redzone boost -- only once 3/4 way into the yellow this past weekend while merging into traffic was all I've done, so it's seen less than the max stock pressure on the positive side. The stupid new part couldn't take it. Probably had a defective diaphram about ready to blow at the slightest pressure. And I know I'm going to get a good "I told you so!" from the guys who recommended a check valve in that line. I shoulda listened to you! :/
I'm not gonna replace this one. The Beastie seems happy now, anyway. Just thought you might be interested in having this info, especially if you're considering replacing your old charcoal canister. My new opinion is, it is not worth the cost and trouble to replace an ELCD. If yours is bad, leave it in there; it's no big deal!
- = M = -
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