Remember this thread? https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/025812.html
About the evaporative canister plumbing & VECI label? Well, I went to junkyards today to look for PCV plumping as you suggested on later year Fieros. No luck in that regard, as all I found were 85's & 86 4cyl Fieros. But, I did notice that both had the VECI labels, & both showed exactly the same hose routing that mine & other 84's showed, in regards to the evap can. One car still had the complete eng in it, and the control vac was piped directly to manifold vac. The other had the intake missing, but judging from where the steel lines ended on the firewall, I would say it too was routed to man vac. Could all the early Dukes be wrong? Something strange is afoot here. As per your suggestion, I used 2 step up rubber fittings to change mine around at the canister(not enough room over at the tbi). I couldn't tell any difference in the way it ran of course or notice any gas fumes, but now it is plumbed as it is supposed to be I guess.

Yes, I remember....

Could three years of Fiero show wrong VECI and be installed with the EVAP canister wrong? Yeah, having seen the way carmakers work, very possible. Could affect many other cars as well. This type canister system usually won't kill an engine even when backwards. Will pass most emmissions tests as well.

For the PCV parts, check the other vehicles mentioned as well. R U (and E) VIN motors are used in allot of later GM product.

As I tried to explain in the other thread, you can tell for sure what vac line is what with a vacuum gauge. You can get those cheap at more places than I can quickly list. It's just as posible the 300TBI is also screwed up. can't tell w/o the gauge. Not having an 84-86 L4, I can't test this for you.

You won't see the engine run all that different most of the time. If the valve is bad, you'll could still have a leak. depends how it's failed. In that case... the canister has to be replaced.

To actually test the caniter itself... You'd need a hand vacuum pump to test for leaks in the valve. ($20-30 and if you shop you can also get the bleeder kit in the same package. That will let you bleed brakes and clutches. Autozone has the MityVac pump packaged with the bleeder stuff.)

If the valve is good, at least now the canister is purging correctly. (We hope. Really needs the vac gauge testing.)In that case, you won't see easily measurable changes but you are lowering fuel evap (Keeping local air clean) and slightly improving your fuel economy. (Fuel in the air = money down the drain. A few pennies here/there adds up over time.)

Side Note: Fuel evap is a much larger issue than many realize. This waste fuel is a large portion of the ground level Ozone problem facing many locals. It's why all the fuel stations have those vapor sucker nozels now. If all vehciles have a good gas cap and working evap can then it can make a big dif in lowering ground Ozone. This version of Ozone is part of smog and makes a hell of allot of people sick, including me.

I'll try to find the test info for the canisters.... I know I've seen it but can't think of where right now. Someone posted how to test the canister to the forums once as well, I think....

I'll also try to test this bloody thing on my car.... I've been looking at other VECI myself and they are confusing to say the least. The VECI simply don't jive with the testing procedure I can remember.... I'll have to physically test the F'ing canister to be sure. (It's been quite some time since I had to fart around with one of these.... I don't want to guess..) It's been hotter & humid than hell here this week. It could be a few days before I can stay outside long enough to make the needed tests. I intend to drop a boulder on this and kill it one way or the other ASAP.

------------------
11-Sept-01, The day the world as we knew it ended.

Interesting stuff Ogre. Thanks for posting it. Like I said, I have already changed mine around. Today, I drove the Fiero for about an hour running errands and saw no noticable difference except a little lower idle rpm which may not even be related to the change. At any rate, my idle has been a little high of late, so it doesn't matter anyway. It is strange after all these years, to come accross something like this. It seems like one of those '25 years GM experience' guys would have caught it long ago. I'll let you know if anything crops up that may be related to this later on & I do intend to get a vac pump & check to see if the valve & can are still working correctly after 18 yrs of being backwards.
Don
Edit-btw, I tried for 5 minutes to get that cursor off the text you posted, before I realized it was yours from the screen shot. I never claimed to be bright.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-17-2002).]

That was funny.... I thougt about removing the cursor from the image but now I'm glad I didn't. I just about fell on my a_s laughing. I needed that. thanks.

Yeah, I don't know what is up with it either. It could be intentional but just as easy a screwup GM ignored.