Vapor Canister for '90 YJ

I took a charcoal vapor canister apart once, dried out the charcoal inside, and glued it all back together. They aren't designed to come apart, but they do. Everything seemed to work properly when I was done. I suspect a leak or other malfunction in your case though.

Earle

If your canister is blocked or saturated, the engine will act like it's out of gas.

It is much more common to have a leak on the suction side of the fuel pump which would make hard first of the day starts or to have a leak in the return line which makes for smell now and then.

Because the return line isn't always full, the leak can be hard to spot. I look for stains on the lines, usually where the rubber hoses join or on the clips that hold the lines to the frame.

The YJ also has a rollover check valve with a mess of hoses up under the back fender. This is a common spot for leaks and fumes.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

remove wrote:

Aloha all There has been some new developments. It seems that now the Jeep is very hard to start (requires much cranking) after it has been driven and then sits for a while. When it starts it runs very rough and the gas smell is strong. Seems like it was flooded. It doesn't seem to matter if the throttle is open or closed. It has always been a bit hard to start when hot after driving, but nothing like this.

99% of the time it starts fine at first morning start. But once in a while it will start but runs very rough for a few seconds.

Driving is all fine. I have checked the choke and the choke heater. All seem to be working fine. Could a bad choke unloader be doing anything to cause the bad initial morning start.

My suspicions have switched to a bad float or float valve possibly causing the flooding and gas smell...at least for the warm start problem.

Any more thoughts?

By the way, this is a new computer and I haven't yet figured out why it thinks my name is remove. Sorry about that. Aloha Joe in Maui

remove wrote:

Yup, that is a definite sign of a busted gas line on the suction side of the pump like I mentioned in my other post to you.

I would look carefully where the steel lines hook to the flexible lines for a leak.

The line is a suction line, so it doesn't drip out on the ground unless really bad, but it air locks the gas line when it sits.

Now it sounds bad enough to suck air when it runs....

Hard to start when hot after driving usually means someone has put the gas filter in upside down or sideways. It has two lines coming out. The Center one goes to the carb and the top one goes to the return line. If the return line isn't at the top and is on the side or bottom, the gas can syphon back to the gas tank when hot or when it sits.

If the return line is blocked or missing, then the hot start issue is vapor lock. The return line is there to prevent this.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

remove wrote:

Joe,

On the tool bar above select TOOLS, then select ACCOUNTS, then highlight your account and then select PROPERTIES.

You will probably find your name is entered as 'remove'.

You probably intended to include 'remove' in your e-mail address to fool e-address mining programs.

For example: If you look at my e-address you will see it is Billy snipped-for-privacy@SPAMfuse.net If you remove the 'SPAM' then you have my e-address. If you need a screen print of the setup just let me know...

I can't help you on your vapor cannister but there are a number of good mechanics on-line here who can.

Welcome to RAMJ+W !

With fifteen years on the vehicle, you could do worse than replace all the flexible fuel hoses, even if that is not the problem. They do go bad with age.

Earle

Thunderbird: Tools->Account Settings...->Default Identity

Steve

Billy Ray wrote:

Aloha Mike and thanks to all of you for the info. Well did some more checking today. I didn't find any sign of cracks or leaks in the suction side unless its on top of the tank which I can't see.The short hose on the return side of the filter did have some cracks which may have gone all the way through which I will change tomorrow. The gas filter is mounted correctly due to one of your posts a long time ago. Here are some interesting observations. Looking in the top of the carb, it seems there is plenty of gas when you are cranking in the hard start mode. Certainly the bowl is full as evidenced by the fact that fuel will squirt in normally while the cranking is going on. Also a strong gas smell from the carb area. Nothing visible however. For this reason , maybe the problem is not with the fuel supply, although I guess that is a very common problem.

Is it possible that the problem could be something in the ignition. Maybe a coil going bad when it heat soaks and doesn't make enough spark. This would seem to explain why it seems to be flooded when it finally does start and why it takes so long to start.

It really runs good with no hesitation or other funnies once it starts though, but when its running the battery voltage is up also. Anyway, just grasping at straws here. I gotta get this fixed soon though. I was going to try to look at the spark in the hard start mode, but I need my wife back from Hula class to do that. If its still good, that should put the ignition thing to bed. Aloha

Mike Roma> Yup, that is a definite sign of a busted gas line on the suction side of

How is the distributor cap and rotor? Mine eats them up. They get a bit of dirt or dust in them and arc out easy.

Mike

Joe and Joann wrote:

Distributor cap and rotor replaced as part of normal maintenenceabout a few days before I noticed this problem . Plug wires are 7 Yrs Old, plugs about a 3 months old.

Mike Roma> How is the distributor cap and rotor? Mine eats them up. They get a

Hmmm.... You know I have gotten mis matched cap and rotor sets in the past. The rotor was too short so it had to arc way too far for a strong spark. I don't think that set lasted a week before I figured out it was arcing out inside. That was an Accel 'performance' cap and rotor but I have heard of the regular ones coming that way too. Rotor made in one country with the cap in another....

You also can take an ohm meter on the plug wires. They are all even 'per foot' in resistance. So if #3 which is about a foot long measures 'say' 100 ohms, then #1 which is twice as long should measure 200. I would start by comparing the coil wire.

I also have seen plug wire ends come loose 'way too many times' over the years after a cap change.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Joe and Joann wrote:

Wow Mike, you da man! Actually I don't know yet if it solved the problem, but I did have a significantly undersized rotor leaving a big gap. Two different NAPA stores. I put the old rotor and cap back on just to be safe. I will do some more testing to see what happens. Its not immediately obvious cause it always took a bit longer to start when hot, it just got a lot worse. Will let you know what I find out. Aloha Joe

Mike Roma> Hmmm.... You know I have gotten mis matched cap and rotor sets in the

Cool, hope that is it. Mine acted like you describe and got worse fast as the spark made burns.

I guess I will find out Tuesday when I get back from bush running. We are taking off for 4 days later tonight.

Mike

Joe and Joann wrote:

I am getting a case of déjà vu here. Fall of 1978 we noticed in the Dodge service department where I was working, that Chrysler Corporation was shipping a new type of rotor, that was about 2 mm shorter than the old type. This was supposed to fit in the same distributor cap as the older type. It appeared in new vehicles and in replacement parts both. There was no service bulletin, or other indication of what this new rotor was supposed to do, except perhaps make your car run worse. A couple of us made sure that our favorite customers got the old type rotor. No doubt, we were messing with some pollution control and breaking innumerable federal regulations, but I suppose that the statute of limitations is over for that now. They wouldn't be able to prove it anyway.

Earle

So far so good for the hot starting problem. Still have gas smell after stopping however. Will keep searching for that. Mahalo (thanks) to all for the Jeep assistance and the computer assistance. Aloha Joe in Maui

Mike Roma> Cool, hope that is it. Mine acted like you describe and got worse fast

I would be checking the return line then. Gas goes down that when you shut it off.

How is the float level in the carb?

Mike

Joe and Joann wrote: