1983 Charcoal Canister Question

[Davo]

So my V8, (with carbies and distributor), has been running strangely, (even for something with carbies and distributor), and during the usual swearing methodical investigations I've discovered that the engine will just about stall if I cover the pipe at the bottom of the charcoal canister in the engine bay. The strange running problem has been apparently something to do with too much air getting in, giving me a lean mixture, according to my AFR gauge, when on town roads and when slowing down, so I've been going through the whole air intake system. Oddly enough if I clamp the hose going from this canister to the back of the engine block, nothing happens. It's only a recent problem, so I wonder if the charcoal has disintegrated, allowing air through and into the engine. Pretty much the entire engine is standard, so it's been a battle to work out what original type part has been causing this. 

I seem to have a dim memory of this canister being disconnected when I got the car, so I guess the next stop is to convert back to the crankcase venting these had originally. 

[neil110]

I tried the charcoal canister on my engine for a while when I took the truck to USA, it caused all sorts of problems and I ended up disconnecting it. Typical problems were oil leaks (because of insufficient crankcase ventilation) sooty plugs and stalling. So pretty much the opposite of what you are experiencing, apart from the stalling

The small hose at the back of the engine block was only fitted to Defenders in UK market, it was not fitted to RR or Discovery V8 and was deleted altogether in later years with the introduction of EFI on the later Defender lumps.

The important hoses are those from rocker covers to carbs, these enable to carbs to suck all the nasty fumes from the crankcase and stick them back into the engine, they are not unknown for blocking up, especially the spigots on the body of the carburetter

[Davo]

That's interesting, thanks very much. I removed the canister and converted the PCV system to having the airflow come from a hose connected to the bottom of the air filter housing, then to the back of the block, and left the rocker cover breathers as is. Everything is new, so there shouldn't be any dirt or blockages. It hasn't changed the odd AFR readings and there is quite the vacuum from the oil filler. I actually found an Oz-spec canister online so I ordered it and will see if that helps.