Which charcoal canister?

[geoff]

My 2001 Boxster has had trouble getting anywhere close to a full tank at every fill up for a few years, so when I had it serviced yesterday I asked the mechanic to look into what is going on. Symptoms are the fuel fill shuts off frequently, and it's impossible to get a full fill up at the gas station (I've tried numerous gas stations). The mechanic pulled the right front fender liner by the filler out, checked all the fittings, relays, etc, and said the likely cause is the charcoal canister inside the wheel well.  Some go bad, others don't, but once they get filled up with fuel, gunk and other stuff they cause the gas fill nozzles to keep shutting off.  Being the good friend he is, he checked with the parts department, they said the part is about a grand, but he got them down to $800.  Then he said "no" and walked away.  He said that's insane, the part used to be affordable, and either live with it or look at a dismantler.  I am not getting any check engine light

 

Last night I checked the parts diagram, found the attached parts diagram on the Porsche web site. I found 996 201 221 0x on several parts web sites.  The 03 suffix was $692 at Sunset, the 07 suffix was $256, and there was a 08 suffix listed for $165.  Other sites indicated the 03 version is no longer available and replaced by either the 07, 08 or 09 suffix.  Different sites were offering different suffixes for the canister.  What is the difference between all the suffixes, and which one should I use (in California)?  [M660 is "OBD2" and M664 is "ORVR" (onboard refueling vapor recovery)]

 

The 08 suffix appears to replace the 02, 05 and 09 suffix parts.  The 03 suffix seems to be the expensive flavor, and priced around $800 on a number of sites. Sunset lists the 03 part as "without ORVR"

 

Is there something I can inspect?  Or pull out and clean to see if that solves the problem?  Dump crud or blow air through the charcoal canister to clear out anything that might prevent my car from filling with gas?

 

Is this a real Porsche part, or something sourced from VW or elsewhere that would be a lot less expensive to buy for another brand?  I'm leery of buying used parts, especially for something that could cause emission problems

 

I found a related topic but it doesn't talk about what the differences are in the charcoal canisters, and he was getting a CEL

 

 

[geoff]

Not hearing anything back from anyone on this yet, I decided to call Pelican Parts, for the simple reason they are in the same county, and I figured they would be able to figure out which charcoal canister i need.  Apparently there are 3 different canisters, but it's not quite so simple. The 09 suffix was replaced by the 08 suffix, which was then replaced by the 03 suffix.  The 06 suffix was replaced by the 07 suffix.  When I gave the Pelican Parts person my VIN, she looked it up, and both the 03 and 07 versions popped up in her computer, but she was at a loss as to which one I need

 

Her parts catalog shows the 1997 to 2000 models use the 03 suffix, and 2000 and later use the 07 suffix.  Mine is a 2001 2.7 model, in California if that makes a difference.  Both ORVR and OBD2 showed up for my VIN

 

Anyone?  Help please!

[JFP in PA]

Instead of calling someone that will ship you aftermarket parts and claim they are "OEM", why not call Sunset Porsche (board sponsor) and give them your VIN number which will tell them exactly which one you need?  503.718.6060

[geoff]

1 minute ago, JFP in PA said:

Instead of calling someone that will ship you aftermarket parts and claim they are "OEM", why not call Sunset Porsche (board sponsor) and give them your VIN number which will tell them exactly which one you need?  503.718.6060

Pelican listed the part as OEM, plus they are in Los Angeles, CA.  Sunset is in Oregon.  My mechanic at my local Porsche dealer got the $800 part quote from the dealer parts counter guy, and they have my VIN.  But for giggles and grins instead of arguing, I'll call Sunset, since I would buy from them anyway, and see what they can figure out for a California car, then post back here

 

But this doesn't help me figure out what the difference is between the charcoal canisters

[JFP in PA]

3 minutes ago, geoff said:

But this doesn't help me figure out what the difference is between the charcoal canisters

 

Simple: Porsche has used a couple of different designs EVAP systems over the years which are not interchangeable.

[geoff]

Sunset's parts department response was basically "don't know, and we can't tell from the VIN".  Three different charcoal canisters, prices are $165 (08 suffix), $256 (07 suffix) and $692 (03 suffix), not interchangeable, and all are for OBD2 and ORVR.  They sell a lot more bleeder valves (996 201 143 01) ($103) and tank valves (996 695 203 01) ($58) than charcoal canisters.  So now the problem space has expanded.

 

My mechanic said when they've had this problem before with the car not taking a full tank, replacing the charcoal canister has solved the problem.  The BS factor is low, since he's the head mechanic at the Porsche dealer and also a good friend, who doesn't try to sell me anything

 

Maybe I'll just keep driving around with no more than half a tank for the future.  It certainly makes fill ups cheaper, even if more often, like having a 7 gallon fuel tank in my Boxster

[JFP in PA]

I can't honestly say that I have ever seen an EVAP canister cause short filling; more often on the earlier cars it is either the lower filler flap not opening properly (you should hear a pronounced "click" when you push the upper flap open with your finger, or lines running to the fuel pump in the tank physically blocking the lower flap.

[geoff]

1 minute ago, JFP in PA said:

I can't honestly say that I have ever seen an EVAP canister cause short filling; more often on the earlier cars it is either the lower filler flap not opening properly (you should hear a pronounced "click" when you push the upper flap open with your finger, or lines running to the fuel pump in the tank physically blocking the lower flap.

First thing the mechanic did was find a quiet place and check for the click when pushing his finger in the fuel filler opening

 

My Boxster is easy to fill about half way with fuel. Then it's a fight with the pump to get it to about 4/5 full.  Then I give up

[geoff]

After researching many options here with search, I found the following:

• TSB 3/99 2015 "Fuel tank hose modification" may have some suggestions. Since the TSBs don't seem to be available any more, has anybody read this and can tell me the gist of what it says?
• One of my old posts in 2004 from my 30K service talks about having the same problem, which was solved under warranty when the dealer replaced a valve.  Now I need to track down my really old service receipts.  I had totally forgotten about this (I still can't remember it), but Search is a wonderful tool

More to come.  I want to figure this out as much as possible, since I don't usually get charged by the dealer for all the labor involved and don't want to take advantage of my mechanic buddy

[Loren]

I sent you a PM.