Hi everyone, tried to search the forum to find much a solution, couldn’t find a match.

Car – 2004 TL Magna ES

Issue – Really strong smell coming from the Fuel Vapour/Charcoal Canister

Background – The Magna has gradually developed a smell coming from the Fuel Vapour Canister over the past month when travelling on longer trips. I have mostly put up with it; just leaving the air con on recirculate etc… However today the smell was really unbearable, and there was a new issue: occasional stuttering/loss of power between 1000-2000 RPM (happened twice).

I have owned 4 Third Gen’s over the past 11 Years (TE, TF, TJ, TL) – this is the first time I have come across this issue.

Questions:
1. From member’s experience, will replacing the canister fix this problem?
2. Could the Charcoal Canister issue be a sign of problems down the line in the Throttle Body or blocked Vacuum lines? If so, where should I start looking?

Has anyone else had this issue before? If anybody can please help me out with any advice, it would be much appreciated.

Vic.

Petrol smell or hot oil smell?

I'm wondering why you have gone straight to the cannister as the source, does it have fuel stains at he top or is petrol dripping out the bottom?

Could just as easily be the rear rocker cover leaking oil onto the exhaust, and the stutter due to oiled up spark plugs.

How many km on the car, and have the rocker cover gaskets and plug tube seals ever been replaced?
My 2004 TL Magna ES needed these doing at 136,000 km, rather desperately!

Thanks MadMax - that's what I immediately thought a few weeks ago - but this is definitely not a rocker cover issue - no leaks, and it is not that typical oil burning smell from when I had my TF & TJ rocker cover gaskets replaced.

I removed the Charcoal Canister when the engine cooled down to check for cracks/leaks, it is the same smell that comes from the vent outlet of the Charcoal Canister. Question that bugs me is why and how is it happening?

purge control may not been working

Any idea where to find the purge valve on the TL Magna's?

one of the 3 solenoids on the front of the manifold

Awesome, Thanks for that Wombatkarl (Y) I'll look into it

Also check the firewall - there was a recall on some cars re: a leak in the fuel pipe on/in the firewall just near that canister.