charcoal Canister Removal

Has anyone removed this without using heroic measures, such as removing the bed or gas tank? I removed the bolt on the back end which is accessible through the wheel well. I can see the other two on the front end, (after removing some of the inner fender plastic lining the wheel well, but I don't see any way to get a wrench in there. Plus they are so rusty, I don't think they would come out, but bust off. This has happened with similarly rusted bolts on this truck. Does anyone know how the dealer does this? This is on a 2003, 2.7L extra cab.

 

Mine was just done. Drop the spare tire.

 

Did that. Did you reach the mounting bolts from the rear end? Cant seem to get an angle on them from there. Might be able to remove the bolts on the mounting bracket from there.

 

The kit from Toyota comes with all the mounting brackets. Removed everything.

 

Yes, the new canister has the two brackets already attached, but that doesn't help with getting the old one out. I was able to reach the canister bolts from the rear end, where the spare tire resides, but they rounded off when I turned them. They were pretty rusty. I'm about ready to sawsall the bracket, if I have a blade long enough to reach in there.

When they designed this thing, did they ever consider the possibility that it would have to be replaced someday? Had they ever heard of stainless steel, particularly for bolts not under huge stress, and exposed to the elements?

Thanks for the advice. It got me taking a second look at the situation.

 

remove the bed of truck

 

Bummer. Lucky I'm in SoCal. Try an impact driver drill and soak it with some bolt ez out. If you saw the brackets may be vice grips will work. Good luck.

 

The old one is off. Cut the bracket. It started raining, so I'm done for the day.

Your old brackets look as good as my new ones. Everything on the old canister that could rust did. Even the hose clamps had rusted away. I'd be leery of taking the bed off because even those bolts don't look so good. I don't know how this frame keeps passing the frame rust inspection. It's the one part on the undercarriage that has not rusted beyond recognition. Before me the truck lived in ME and MA. I'll take a picture in the daylight.

You SoCal guys don't know how much those of us in the rust belt envy you.

 

The old one is out. It took a sawsall, dremal, pb blaster, cold chisel, vice grips, adjustabe wrench and my last ounce of patients. This can be done without removing anything other than the spare tire, but it may take some effort. Seems you need the canister out of the way in order to remove the bracket bolts. I didn't want the bolts to break off, so once everything else was out of the way, I worked the bolts loose with a cold chisel. If you are lucky, the rust will not have knocked off the corners of the bolt, otherwise, your socket will just spin.

This took a couple of hours, and I was ready the hand it over to my machanic several times. But it can be done. The degree of difficulty is proportional to the amount of rust on the bolts. Once the bracket nuts broke free, I used the dremal tool to flatten two sides of the heads of the bolts. Then an adjustable wrench spun then out. A socket may work also, but I could not find a size that would fit on the flattened bolt head.

I've got pictures, so I can add more detail. I'm just very satisfied to have the old unit completely removed at this moment.

 

It was a pain removing it.

 

This thread is from 2015. Lol.

 

More than a pain. I did a write up on it with pictures. I'll have to find the link should anyone else come across this post looking for advice.

This is a much more difficult job for trucks in the salt belt. Should I have to do it again, I will find a few friends and take the bed off.