vapor seperator 71 charger

[velrob]

I had question about vapor seperator that sits inside the drivers side wheel well.

I was trying to blow air into each inlet to see if air would come out of the other inlets. I believe there are 4 to 5.

Is each inlet seperated? No air would exit. Im trying to figure out if its clogged. When i applied air the tank would expand like a balloon but i stopped before I would damage it.

I was applying air to try to clean it out as much as possible as theres no way to open it up unless i cut it open with a grinder.

 

[multimopes]

I am not sure. You don't say what year you have or how many hoses were connected to it. However, I believe they are designed to open on suction only. They might all have internal check valves but you would think that you should be able to input something. The canister may be plugged up. Also, depending on year, different ports were plugged off with rubber caps. I think one raised port, usually slightly larger, is a one way vent, allowing fresh air to be sucked in but not out. I would hook up the hoses where you got them, start the car and remove one at a time putting your finger over the opening in the nipple and see if you feel suction. If you get nothing, remove the fuel tank gas cap and see if you get some. What the canister is supposed to do is draw gasoline fumes into the carburetor and be burned rather than evaporating into the atmosphere. I didn't have one on my 73 as most things were removed for drag racing only. They are hard to come by and there is not much info about replacement applications. I put one from the bone yard on mine but I did the recommended thing and installed new small engine fuel filters in the lines going from the canister to the carb and pcv. The reason is that old canisters might let granules of charcoal get sucked into the combustion chamber. I read several threads on this here so if you need more info let me know and I will find them for you!
Good Luck!

 

[velrob]

Hmmm if you can give me more info that would be great. Mine is a 71 charger and i tried the air into each inlet and some air did come out but just a small bit. as for the charcoal i will be rebuilding my vapor canister with new charcoal and filter. or should i scrap the vapor seperator and canister all together? there are 5 lines.

i definitely dont want charcoal granules in my motor. would that still happen if i put new fresh charcoal?

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

The ’71 Evaporation Control System does not include a charcoal canister, ’72 was the first year for that. The fifth line from the fuel tank vapor separator on a ’71 connected to a three-nipple breather on the passenger side valve cover. Some fuel tank vapor separators had anti roll-over check valves built into that fifth nipple on the tank. Biggest concern with those tanks these days are rust through holes, sounds yours is good in that regard.

 

[multimopes]

Sorry for delayed response, work got in the way. There is something I can add. First, a picture is worth a thousand words. It helps big time if you post one with your question.
Second, if you poke the picture on the excellent info furnished by 72Roadrunner GTX above, it brings up photo bucket with more related pictures and diagrams. Third, I found the info I said I would find for you relating to what we now know you don't have. It is in this section. 1971to1974 Mopars, about 12 pages in and it was near the bottom dated June 15th and it was from Plymouthman72 and it was called 72 Road Runner vacuum pump. There is a poke point from there to another site with even more vapor canister info in case you are interested.
I want to thank 72RoadrunnerGTX for pointing (us) in the right direction. Again good luck!

 

[velrob]

Mine came with the charcoal canister and its a 71 charger superbee

i also have the full service manual which i was going to use when putting it back together. i wanted to be sure it was working properly and being unable to get inside (rust dust etc) will that be a concern? i tried blowing into it to get as much out as possible. i can hear little bits inside of it. should i cut it open and clean it out? i can then reweld it and apply putty to cover any tiny holes? or would the gas vapors push the putty out? perhaps i can use something like JB Weld instead to cover any minor holes?

 

[velrob]

here is a picture i just took

i sand blasted the seperator/painted and bought a new shield from AMD

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Again, there were no factory installed charcoal canisters in ’71. The pictured three nipple canisters were first used in ’73, I would question the bracket pictures as well, doesn’t look to be anything Chrysler used on any charcoal canister equipped B-body in ’71-74. Look again in your ’71 FSM, there are no references to charcoal canisters.

 

[velrob]

I didnt say i didnt beleive you. I do beleive you. I didnt bother to look for it in the manual at that time. I would of figured that out come time when I reinstalled everything wondering why there were no diagrams. I just want to know is there any benefit to if I restore it? And should I clean the inside of the seperator or is the sunction inside the canister not that strong where it wont suck it tiny bits of whatever?

Thanks

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Should also be noted that for the ’73 and up, three nipple charcoal canisters to purge correctly, as designed, it would need to be paired up with a ’73 and up OE carburetor having a dedicated balanced, above the throttle plates canister purge port. Only factory carbs designed for ’73 and up or some aftermarket street replacements for ’73 and up have such a port.

As for reconditioning a canister, you could open it up and verify the condition of internal filters if need be. There was some internal use of foam filters to help contain the charcoal, back in the day, never saw charcoal partials sucked into motors as a huge problem unless the canister was damaged. After 40+years the foam filters have likely deteriorated, may then be a problem should the charcoal work its way into the purge line some how. The three nipple canisters are fairly common, some new replacements are available through aftermarket last I checked at reasonable cost. Not sure it would be worth the effort to cut open and reseal a later version canister.

The separator, if you believe there are rust particles in the separator, all you can do is attempt to flush it out through the nipples. When mounted, likelihood of being drawn up and into the vent line is pretty small. If the outer shell is air tight, not much more to be concerned with.

 

[velrob]

Looks like they had the canister but only the midlde port was connected to the seperator. the other two ports were capped off. i will install it in same manner in that case. it wont be connected to the carb at all.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

If that’s the case, then the canister is simply acting as a filter for the vent line, no need to rebuild it and no danger of charcoal partials getting in the motor if you are not running a purge line. It will not function as intended only connected to the fuel tank vent line.

 

[velrob]

You are correct. What filter do you recommend instead of restoring the canister since its only acting as a filter. That would be cheaper and save me time than cutting this thing open. Could I perhaps use a fuel filter to do same thing?