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Hey guys i'm having a difficult time with this canister purge problem.

I tried researching how to remedy this problem but it didn't work. I've tried replacing the canister purge with a used one and then a new one to no avail. After that didn't work I went ahead and fixed the other codes. The others being injector number 3, MAF sensor, and knock sensor. Then i tried clearing the codes using the battery dance but that didn't work. Trying to clear the ECU using black and green connectors didn't work and neither did removing the 14th fuse in the kick panel. Which i removed overnight and reinstalled in the morning and left the car to warm up for 15 min. The CEL only reads canister purge for now.

So my questions are where do the lines lead to/come from and how should i go about fixing this problem? I am wondering about where the lines lead to/come from because the one at the bottom could be where the problem lies. It seems a little loose to me. So if it's loose does that mean I'm losing money from gas vapors escaping from somewhere? I do smell the occasional odor of gas in the cabin I just thought that it was from other cars.

Other misc info:
91' legacy L sedan NA
5 speed manual
199,923 miles

Well thanks in advance and thanks for helping me get rid of my other check engine codes

Which lines are you referring to?

Have you tried the active diagnosis?

Have you back probed the canister purge solenoid pin at the ECU to see if the resistance matches the resistance of the solenoid when you measure it at the solenoid?

This will help identify if you have a wiring problem.

I'm referring to the canister purge lines, maybe vacuum lines? Well i looked at it a little closer saterday while i was at the shop. There are two lines on top of the black canister that lead/come from behind the power steering pump. The third line is on the bottom of the canister and leads/comes from some hole near the bottom of the car's frame. I wiggled the bottom line and it came out of the hole... I don't think that's supposed to happen. It looks like it was a clean cut and i couldn't find another hose that it would have come from. So i just had to put it back in the hole. -_-

As far as the active diagnosis, i may have done it wrong... it seems i should have only the green connectors connected rather than both green and black while driving at a speed more than 10 mph and put into 4th gear. I'll try this again, hopefully properly, this week.

No i haven't probed the canister purge solenoid pin and i'm not quite sure how to do so. Where should i look in the forum to find out how to something like this?

Thanks again
John

To measure the resistance you would remove the connector from the solenoid valve under the hood. Use an Ohm meter to measure the resistance across the connector of the solenoid valve and record it. Then plug the connector back in. Get in the car under the dash and remove the connector from the ECU and using the Ohm meter, again measure the resistance from the Purge control pins. If the resistance is close to what you recorded then your wiring is probably fine. If the resistance is extremely higher then you could have a broken wire, and if its close to 0 ohms then you have a short circuit.

You can find info on the ECU connector by using the search function. Legacy777 has done some great work with providing us pin outs.

Yeah, those are just the evaporative emissions lines.

If you look at the emissions sticker on your hood (assuming you have the original hood) it will have a diagram of the vacuum lines. One line comes from the gas tank, then to the charcoal canister, then to the canister purge solenoid, and then to the vacuum line on the throttle body.

The hose on the bottom of the canister is just a vent, and the fact it came off isn't a big deal, just snap it back on.

I'm not sure if there's a thread telling how to back probe the ECU. But all you need to do is identify which pin it is, take a small wire, and insert it in the back of the ECU connector, and then connect your multi meter to it. Put the wire in with the engine off, and once you have verified everything, then start the car.

Thanks guys for your help. i'll try this sometime tomorrow.

John

so yeah i went and tried to find the resistance of the wires and i got like 11.3 to 13 on the wire connected to the solenoid and 4.20 on the wire going to the ecu. however when i tried to find the wire that connects to the ecu i ran into a bit of a problem... which wires do i check?

Since finding the wire might be a pain in the ass i was wondering if it would just be a better idea to just replace the solenoid. The engine is fine and there is no evidence of rat infestation or any electrical/wiring problems so i'm fairly confident that it's not a wiring problem. Also the canister purge solenoid has probably been there for the life of the car so i wouldn't be surprised if it failed. The list price of a new canister purge solenoid is like $85. Is that reasonable? Is there any other course of action i should take?

Thanks,

John

Joyful and pissed off at the same time...
Joyful cuz i FINALLY got the correct part, installed it, and it cleared the CEL. Pissed off because it took 2 weeks to get the right part and about an hour and a half of struggling to get this bitch back together again. man when u guys said this thing was a PITA, u guys weren't kidding.

Well the part is in there now and the CEL doesn't come out thanks to this forum. :D:D

Thanks guys
John

t3h L3g4cy wrote:Joyful and pissed off at the same time...
Joyful cuz i FINALLY got the correct part, installed it, and it cleared the CEL. Pissed off because it took 2 weeks to get the right part and about an hour and a half of struggling to get this bitch back together again. man when u guys said this thing was a PITA, u guys weren't kidding.

Well the part is in there now and the CEL doesn't come out thanks to this forum. :D:D

Thanks guys
John

anybody know the part # for the canister purge solenoid valve?

If it's not in here,

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=631

d/l the parts book

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=30531