Well, I was looking around my gas tank and came across this. Where is this hose from my expansion tank supposed to terminate? Could this be a cause for gas smell inside when the car is closed up overnight?

Click to view attachment

Goes to missing canister that is supposed to be at the end of the hose.

What year is the car?

Is there an empty bracket on the top left side of the gas tank?

Could be a cause of fuel smell, but might not. There is supposed to be a charcoal canister to absorb vapors as the tank contents expand and contract. You can probably find a used one pretty easily.

The reason I asked those questions is to determine where the canister is supposed to be located. 73 and earlier were on top of the gas tank in a bracket on the left side. 74 and later had the canister in the engine compartment. A long plastic line went behind the tank and down the tunnel to hook to the canister. The 74 and later tanks didn't have the bracket for the charcoal canister on them.

Sorry, guys. It's a 1974 2.0. No bracket in the front. It appears that there was a canister in the back at some point. Now what? What do I do with this hose?

After 2 years, I'm still finding mysteries as I replace parts.

Look for a whitish/yellowish plastic flexible tube (about 1/8" o.d.) somewhere between the fuel tank and the cowl area. If you find it, slide it into the rubber hose coming from the expansion tank (you may need a small hose clamp to secure it).

Locate the other end of the tubing in (or under) the engine bay, and attach it to the charcoal canister you'll soon be acquiring (you'll need to acquire a mounting bracket for the canister too).

Until you get a charcoal canister, you can just vent the tubing to the atmosphere.

Also, you can 'recharge' the charcoal canister ... most pet shops that carry aquarium supplies sell bags of charcoal granules.



Here's a thread you might want to check out: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=332877

The hose was not always white. And you can buy 1/8 black plastic line at FLAPS.

And your hose may be under the fuel tank. You have to tie it up if you pull the tank. The DAPO may not have done that and trapped it below the tank.

early 74 models with the metal expansion tank had the charcoal canister on top of the tank. Later 74 models with the plastic expansion tank and the screw on black plastic gas cap had the canister in the engine compartment, 2.0 on the side of the battery, 1.8 at the back of the firewall. At this same time the carpet material switched as well from the dark gray "hairy" loop, to the gray purplish loop twist

So if the hose goes in the charcoal canister, does it just terminate in the canister and stop or does it come out the other end of the canister and go somewhere else?

Thanks for all the tips and patience. I assume that it's not uncommon that these cars are tweaked in many ways beyond factory. At least it runs well!

Yup! Of the two 74s I have owned, one had the canister on top of the fuel tank, the other had it in the engine bay.

Cars with front-mounted canisters have two thick plastic lines running through the driver's side rocker panel. Those carried fan-driven air up to the canister and then fuel-vapor-laden air back to the air cleaner.

Cars with rear-mounted canisters have a single small line that goes through the center tunnel. It connected the expansion tank to the canister.

--DD

Well, not all of them. My 74 (1.8 #12244) has the metal expansion tank, metal gas cap, black nylon line and canister on the back of the engine compartment.

Here's a pic off my '72.

Lots of good info here if anyone cares: charcoal canister

Thanks to all who have responded. This helps a great deal. It looks like another mystery solved.

One more elementary question...what are considered early model years vs. late model years? It kind of looks like I may have parts for both series.

Early was 70-73, 74 was in the middle, 75-76 is late. Somebody may interject opinions about the middle, but for me 74 was transition with the bumper tits before the "late" cars put on the horribly heavy late rbbbs aka bubs (big ass heavy bumpers that suck the soul from the car and collect it at the ends where it screws the most with the handling).

Redneck summary.

There are a ton of little things like charcoal canisters, doors, roofs, fuel pump locations, smog pumps, and....

73 and 74 are transition years.
Early 73 has some 72 parts.
Late 74 has some 75 parts.

"Early" and "Late" are usually relative terms. You can usually be pretty sure that 75 and 76 are "late", and that 70 and 71 are "early", and there's a good chance that 72 is "early" as well. But 73 and 74 are much less clear.

It can also change when you talk about different systems on the car. For instance, when talking transmissions the 70-72 are early, and 73+ is late. When talking exhausts, 70-74 are early and 75+ is late....

--DD