Evaporative questions, Crown Victoria & Grand Marquis 1997

Howdy folks.

Same old story, from the number of inquires I found online, but no clear answer so I thought I'd post my questions here.

A gas smell, or fuel odor, from the front of my battlecruiser 1997 Grand Marquis with 155k miles.

No leaks on the beautiful (stainless?) gas lines. So it comes back to the charcoal canister or purge valve or perhaps vacuum lines, at least that is my current assumption.

So I go to look for the canister and of course, it's nowhere to be found. Boy, old cars were simpler.

I now know it's roughly under the passenger headlight. Peeking under there I see TWO black plastic boxes. See old car comment above :).

Before dismantling the whole shebang I'd like to know what's going on. I see the big vacuum line coming from the purge valve on the firewall heading across the engine before looping under to the canisters.

1) There is valve stem w/ valve on the vacuum line that says 1 psi max. I gather I fill it to 1 psi and observe how airtight the line is. Roughly how long should it hold 1 psi?

2) When the line disappears under the front of the car, what's the setup under there? Are both plastic cans tied into the evap system? I can't see the big vac line but I do see two smaller lines going to the top of one can, and nearby there is a little thing with a vent cap on top that has a big line going into the side and a wire coming out the bottom.

I don't have diagnostic equipment. Any and all advice and comments appreciated!

Pete

The cannister is under the headlight where you suspect it is. If you ate a person that "tops off" the tank when fueling, it is a good possibility the cannister is full of gasoline. This can cause the smell. The cap you see is for diagnostics. Trying to put in one psi of air is next to impossible unless you have the proper equipment. That is more for the "smoke machine" to be hooked up to test the system.

Thanks for the comments.

I was wondering how on earth I was going to meter 1 psi, so I guess that's that.

I didn't used to push the topping off until gas went up and my fuelperks discount from the local grocers kicked in :).

Under the headlight is TWO canisters - any idea if they are both for the evap?

Pete

If I remember correctly, the cannister is one that is divided into 2 containers. Looking for pictures, but I can not find any.

If I remember correctly, the cannister is one that is divided into 2 containers. Looking for pictures, but I can not find any.

Thanks! I'll just rip it apart. :)

I'll be sure to post what I find.

Pete