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Carbon Canister / Evap Vent Control Valve Nightmare

37K views 25 replies 9 participants last post by  DrLar 
#1 ·
I had a failed repair day today and need some advice. MIL is on and throwing codes p1448 and p0455. Searched and the likely culprit seems to be the evap vent control valve. I figured that I'll take it off and try to clean it / get the valve working again before ordering a new part. Two small bolts...easy enough...or so it would seem...

Since my Xterra is a 2004, I liberally applied PB Blaster to the blots twice and let it soak in for about an hour each time before even beginning to wrench. I figured that I'd take the carbon canister assembly / valve out as a whole so it would be easier to work on, but the damn 2 hoses connected to the carbon canister didn't want to break free despite trying to loosen them off with a pair of pliers and a screw driver for almost 15 minutes.

So, I decided to just leave the carbon canister on and work on it attached to the underside still. Much to my dismay, I sheared off both vent control valve bolts after two turns on the ratchet, which are now stuck inside the carbon canister.

1) Should I even try to drill the seized / snapped bolts out of the carbon canister or just bite the bullet and order a new carbon canister and vent control valve?

2) The Xterra is my daily driver. Since both bolts are sheared off, I zip-tied the vent control valve to the carbon canister to hold it in place. Should it be safe to drive (aside from possibly leaking a little pollution) until I can fix it permanently? I don't want to break it anymore than it already is.


 
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#2 ·
I have no idea, but that's fine body of work you did there...


Sent from The Dark Side
 
#5 ·
I don't think that will cause any issues. as long as you don't mind how it looks. I would guess that there is in o-ring on that control valve so as long as its properly seated in the hole it shouldn't leak. what is the decription for the codes that you have?
 
#6 ·
Good point phrogman, I suppose that I have nothing to loose by trying to drill out the bolts before ordering another carbon canister.

ITR_J - definitely don't care how it looks as long as it's fixed temporarily. lol. That part is tucked up under the rear where the stock spare tire is held, so it's not visible anyway.

P1448 = EVAP Canister Vent Control Valve (Open)
P0455 = EVAP Control System Gross Leak (Large)

I'm guessing the vent valve malfunctioning /sticking in the open position causes the 2nd code to get tripped by proxy. So when I replace the vent control valve, it should close properly and prevent the gross leak code form happening too.
 
#7 ·
Since both bolts are sheared off, I zip-tied the vent control valve to the carbon canister to hold it in place. Should it be safe to drive (aside from possibly leaking a little pollution) until I can fix it permanently? I don't want to break it anymore than it already is.


Man that is some genuine redkneck engineering right there.....sure you're not from 'round here? :biggrin:

Smart thinking to get it temporarily handled. :)
 
#8 ·
Lol, thanks, some areas of PA are also well known for specializing in ******* engineering! I always have duct tape and zip-ties in my Xterra. If you can't fix something with those two items, it can't be fixed!
 
#9 · (Edited)
I've never posted or belonged to a forum before. I hope someone reads this!
I have the same problem with my xterra. I bought the valve, but when I tried to remove the bolts they broke off. One other problem is that I can't figure out how to disconnect the wire connector. There seems to be a slider on top that you can move toward the valve, I assumed that this would release the connector and allow me to slide the connector off.
After a few hours at it I gave up. What is the trick?
 
#10 ·
I'm trying to fix a po1441 code with replacement of the vent control valve. I managed to get mine off without stripping anything but them things expensive!
 
#11 ·
I bought mine on-line. The dealer wanted an arm and a leg, I think I paid $69, but I bought some other things for my other cars too, to save on the shipping.
Thank God you got yours off without stripping those bolts, that was the problem I had. Once the bolts broke off then I had to cut the valve off, grind down the broken stubbs and then drill and re-tap the holes for some other bolts. Either that or replace the whole canister at about $300 on-line $500 at a dealer.
 
#12 ·
I just had the xterra in the shop last week because of the right manifold, It was leaking. It turned out that the manifold was cracked in several places. I had a shop do that one. Tomorrow it goes back in to get the muffler replaced. The original one is split open. I opted to get them to cut out the old muffler and then weld in a stainless magnaflow one instead of the galvanized crap that you buy for replacement.
It should cost me less than the replacement part and last another 10 years... oh and sound better too!
 
#13 ·
im putting headers in shortly. my right manifold cracked and could kick mydelf for not putting headers in then
 
#17 ·
I wonder if "•Includes new mounting hardware for complete installation" means that they know the stock bolts will break, I'm not trying to remove mine until I have the spare part in my hand...

Neither autozone or o'reilly have it in stock, I found one in CarQuest for 1/2 less! I'm going there to get it
 
#18 ·
I didn't have any issue with the new bolts, the problem was that the old ones just broke off when I tried to remove them. Then I had a little stubby end of two bolts holding the valve in place, with no way of pulling it out except for drilling. To actually get at the bolts I had to get the old valve off/out of the canister and that was impossible with the bolt remnants still in place. The whole canister is plastic with just a bit of metal around where the bolts are. Heating it up with a torch was no good, considering the fact that the canister has been venting gas fumes for ten years into charcoal, I didn't consider heat an option. So I cut the old valve off carefully with a hack saw. I cut on either side of the valve separating the valve from the bolts. That way I could pull the valve out while the bolts were still in place. I thought this way I'd get another crack at attempting to rotate the bolts out with vise-grips. That proved to not work as the bolts just eventually broke off. Then all I did was grind down the bolt remnants and re-drill the bolt holes with a smaller size. Then tapped the holes for smaller bolts. Normally I'd go larger and get rid of the old rusted metal, but I wasn't sure how thick the metal inserts were. Also the valve doesn't require a lot of bolt strength as the valve sits in there tight without the bolts. I figured that the first valve lasted 10 years, I assume the next will last that long.
 
#19 ·
It took me most of the day, messing with the canister. As long as you are not in a rush it was ok, if a little awkward. I obviously had to remove the whole canister as the space up under the back of the truck is tight and I couldn't deal with it up there, especially after the bolts broke off. The other issue was the wire connector on the valve, it took for ever to get it off without breaking it.
I understand why the dealership told me that if the bolts break they replace the whole canister, in retrospect I would have had it done in an hour that way. But I had time and didn't want to spend the $500.
 
#25 ·
Only the jack is in there with the L wrench, that's it no rod... When I bought it I only checked spare, jack and wrench were in.

(I was so excited to get his X I maybe forgot that detail, I got some discount on the missing sunvisor and no floor mats though LOL)
 
#26 ·
So my p1448 and p0455 codes are no longer shown, my SAS light is off, that's before I could check them and buy the replacement valve.

So it means my valve is functioning correctly? it has been 5 days since the SAS light is off, it hasn't turn on again.

(BTW I got my spare removal tool now)
 
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