Carbon Canister / Evap Vent Control Valve Nightmare

[lykofos]

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.

[Gustling]

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


Sent from The Dark Side

[phrog man]

Hmmm being the stubborn mech that I am I would try to drill them out. Get new hardware and press on.

However!, I have never worked on that component before so in not sure what cleaning/ repairing it entails.

[Powerguy37]

Get out the big boy hammer and beat the hell out of it!

[ITR_J]

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?

[lykofos]

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.

[RacerXXL]

Originally Posted by lykofos

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?

Smart thinking to get it temporarily handled.

[lykofos]

Lol, thanks, some areas of PA are also well known for specializing in redneck 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!

[MichaelC]

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?

[legend869]

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!