Am rebuilding my 240 after it got whacked by an SUV on the kisser. After replacing the LF fender, I realized there was a can of some kind attached under the LF fender with a couple of hoses that come out of it that shoot back towards the back of the car. I noticed this on the carcass of the poor 240 that I found at a junkyard which I stripped like it was Lola Falana. The can looks like an air filter of some sort. The hoses in it go all the way back. I couldn't follow where they went in the junkyard because the donor car was a mess underneath plus I lost my pen and all my spare change in the dirt. But I had the presence of mind to take the can off the Lola Falana car just in case. The original can from my car was demolished and all that's left of it is a little filter looking thing. So my question is this:

1. Do I need that can? I've been driving the car without it, and it's been doing fine, but it's time for inspection.

2. Also -- might as well spill all the beans -- I've been driving the car without power steering for awhile, and only recently saw on this site that I could be ruining the steering rack. I'm planning to get a belt for the P/S, but wanted to wait until after I fixed other stuff, including the aforementioned mystery can.

3. Bonus question: What group recorded the song "Yes We Can" (no political pun intended). Winner will be eligible for a free bonus, a withdrawal of your 401K care of Congress, the proceeds handed out to banks, insurance companies, etc.

On the other hand, scratch question number 3.
Thanks
Cuddy

Very sorry I polluted the BB with politics. Let's forget I asked. My fault. I'll plug the holes in the cannister, pray to the pollution Gods for forgiveness, and be on my way.

Thanks to everyone for their help. Peace!

Cuddy

for the bonus -- will.i.am

Sorry to say, never heard of him, which doesn't say much becuase I'm out of touch. Correct answer: The Pointer Sisters. The song is at least 20 years old.

Nice try. Supreme effort.

Best,
Cuddy

In the last couple years Calif. has tightened up their standards for fuel vapor emissions. The charcoal canister is high on their list of things to check.

Actually I don't really know if the active material is charcoal. It's supposed to last forever. It's generally the hoses that leak after awhile.
--
1986 Volvo 245

More importantly, have the vacuum lines to the canister been plugged? That's important. I accidentally found that the vacuum hoses slipped off of the canister on our 1987 245... and the vacuum hoses have been hanging down like 6" from the road surface! I'm hoping the car hasn't been hoovering road debris all this time! :-)

You can try to slide through emissions without the canister, but plug the hoses!: the vacuum leak will likely throw off your NOx readings, and not for the better!

-Ryan
--

Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 314k, Dog-mobile
1990 245 DL 134k M47, E-codes, GT Sway Bars
1991 745 GL 300k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars

The charcoal canister is supposed to catch fumes that evaporate from the gas tank and engine, instead of allow them into the atmosphere, when the car is sitting. When the engine is running, it sucks the trapped gas from the canister and burns it.

At least that is how I think it is supposed to work. Don't know if, after 15+ years, that activated charcoal is still effective.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb but electronic ignition and M46 trans in Brampton, Ont.

Thanks alot.

Cuddy

The can is the key part of the evaporative emission control system, a charcoal canister if you like. It doesn't hurt performance and in an alleged "Al Gorian way", it allegedly saves the planet by preventing global worming! No, that wasn't a typo! Oh yeah, depending on where you live, you will need the Gore canister to pass inspection! Why has Gore not supported the democratic party lately... is he too busy making money on top of false science?

And heck, if you believe the the "carbon neutral" coal burning bs, your evap can might be worth 500 bucks as a fuel source in a few years!

jorrell
On a non-political note, install the canister, although it doesn't do much, it will allow your car to pass the fiercest of inspections.

--
92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

never had one of his beanballed mad scientist simply measure the percentage of CO2 in the air to see if it is increasing, decreasing or what. There is technology available to measure gases or particles in parts per million. I venture to guess the results would put him out of "business".

Oy. I don't wanna mix up politics/science in the main forum, but you do know that ice cores and tree rings allow us to measure increases/decreases in global temps and CO2 levels reliably to about 250,000 years ago... don't you? Not only do temps and C02 levels correlate stupidly well, but since the beginning of the industrial revolution, CO2 levels have skyrocketed like they have never done in that past 250,000 years. I'm not a super Al Gore lover, but Geez Louise. Get with it.

-Ryan
--

Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 314k, Dog-mobile
1990 245 DL 134k M47, E-codes, GT Sway Bars
1991 745 GL 300k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars

Thanks Ryan. Your help and that of your fellow BB brothers is deeply appreciated. Will refrain from mixing politics with sainted BB in the future. Life is too short for all of us.

Best,
Cuddy