[Guest]

I just joined and first have to say - WOW what a website!
I went to the dealer Saturday to have battery replaced - battery and cables were corroded. I usually go to the dealer because oil changes are cheapest. (When I bought car they offered "free" oil changes for life - which really meant like $10 for the filter. So last Wed the check engine (or looks like a bulb shaped thing with pipes?) went on. I looked in the book and it said check the gas cover - I made sure it was tightened. Light still on so dealer saturday said that I need new Charcoal Canister and quoted the price around $550? Do I HAVE to get it at the dealer? Is this price reasonable? Also they said my exhaust system is rusted out. If I have dealer replace - quoted price was $1650. Service guy said I can try other repair places - any recommendations or advice on both of these things please? Thanks in advance.

 

[brett gazdzinski]

Wow, what silly prices!

Sounds like the 'free' oil changes are just to get you in for more money.

The charcoal cannister is a can, usualy plastic, with charcoal in it.
Hard to see why that would cost so much, its about $1.00 worth of stuff.

I would take it someplace else, and dont tell them what the dealer said...

The exhaust should be looked at also, usualy just one part needs to be replaced, and many systems are stainless.

Brett

 

[Rav4jptrk]

I have come charcoal in my basement it you want some :lol:

I found it much cheaper just to replace the entire exhaust system with a custom fit one. You should find and buy your own mufflers; summit racing has a good selection. Have 3 mufflers that are straight through type(or chambered- need only 2) and it will sound as quiet as stock belive me I know first hand :wink: I needed the front pipe replaced, but I was quoted $285 W/O labor for it :shock: . I had a custom exhaust done, with labor and the mufflers I purchaced for like $250 or so. Saved about $150 :thumbs_up: I even got a MPG bump and some more power from it.

 

[The Drifter]

I just joined and first have to say - WOW what a website!
I went to the dealer Saturday to have battery replaced - battery and cables were corroded. I usually go to the dealer because oil changes are cheapest. (When I bought car they offered "free" oil changes for life - which really meant like $10 for the filter. So last Wed the check engine (or looks like a bulb shaped thing with pipes?) went on. I looked in the book and it said check the gas cover - I made sure it was tightened. Light still on so dealer saturday said that I need new Charcoal Canister and quoted the price around $550? Do I HAVE to get it at the dealer? Is this price reasonable? Also they said my exhaust system is rusted out. If I have dealer replace - quoted price was $1650. Service guy said I can try other repair places - any recommendations or advice on both of these things please? Thanks in advance.

sadly, the price is correct. I checked my price to see if i could get you one for cheaper, but even with my discount they still want about 500 for the canister. now, the reason it costs so much is because of all the valving and the sensor that are on it.

the main reason these go out is from people trying to over-fill their tanks. if gas gets into the canister, the gasoline dissolves the charcoal in the canister, rendering it useless.

and as for the exhaust, you can easily get one customer made for maybe a quarter of the dealer price. i tell all my customers that.

 

[jamesl]

www.rockauto.com shows a Vapor Canister for the '98 Rav4 for around $275. Still expensive, but better than $500: AIRTEX Part # 4B1096.

I had a new muffler and cat-back pipe installed on a Geo Tracker a few weeks ago and it cost $120 at a local muffler shop.....

 

[brett gazdzinski]

I might try and get one out of a junk yard, or see if you can clean the one you have.
If the canister has valves and so on, you may be able to take things apart and clean things up, or it might be a bad hose or connection.

To set a code, you can have anything happen, plugged up line to the canister from the gas tank, stuck valve, bad electrical connection, cracked hose, or something else like the purge valve or hose, or even a bad cap on the gas tank, the system checks that the tank holds pressure...

Shops dont bother fixing anything, they just replace things, but often you can do something, most things come apart.....


Brett

 

[The Drifter]

I might try and get one out of a junk yard, or see if you can clean the one you have.
If the canister has valves and so on, you may be able to take things apart and clean things up, or it might be a bad hose or connection.

To set a code, you can have anything happen, plugged up line to the canister from the gas tank, stuck valve, bad electrical connection, cracked hose, or something else like the purge valve or hose, or even a bad cap on the gas tank, the system checks that the tank holds pressure...

Shops dont bother fixing anything, they just replace things, but often you can do something, most things come apart.....


Brett

The canister is a sealed part, and everything is internal. thats why it has to be replaced, its not repairable. and as brett said, it might not even be the canister. it could be a number of things that set the code. we try to be as accurate as possible when diagnosing emissions stuff, but sometimes people just give up and guess at whatever the cause can be.

as for replacing parts, toyota replaces parts instead of repairing them to cut down on customer down time. thats the only reason. the fastest possible way to get a customer in and out is to just replace the whole thing and get them on their way, instead of sitting here trying to figure out exactly whats wrong and then repairing it. we just send the part away to toyota and they deal with it.

 

[Guest]

Update on Charcoal Canister and Exhaust

Hi everyone!
Thanks for replying. Last Sat my hubby took my car to 2 different places.
First a repair place near where we live. They said they would try to repair the charcoal canister or put in a new one, but cost would be around 200-300!

Next exhaust issue. He took it to Iggy's muffler in Chicago. They said toyota wanted to replace entire system. This place would just cut out the rusted part and replace it - again price estimate around 150-200!

So much better...