found evap leak, how to fix it?

[mail2_jb]

I made a small smoke machine and found smoke from the top of the tank.
It appears that it is a good size leak as I can hear the air escaping.

How do I go about fixing / finding the exact leak location?
I removed the back seat and I don't see the smoke coming up inside the car.

Here is the pic of the portion of the tank that I see smoke is coming from.
It looks like it is the overfill pipe location.

Do I need to drop the tank to see from where the smoke is coming from?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Camry 2000 LE 4 cyl.

[Mister_Perkins]

Well, to fix the problem your going to have to drop the tank anyhow .. so thats what I would do!

[mail2_jb]

Thanks Mr. Perkins.
Any guess on what I should buy before dropping the tank? I like to buy whatever gasket/part etc before dropping the tank (I can always return what ever i don't use )

First time attempting to drop a tank. How do you remove the exhaust back section ?
I know you need to unclamp from the rubber hose, but I need to remove the back end of the exhaust pipe from the front end. So remove the bolts somewhere near the flex pipe? Sorry , never done this part either so I have no clue on how to remove the exhaust. I am thinking better ask before tearing down the friggin! car

Once I removed the exhaust, just disconnect all wires and hoses and drop the tank to a jack and disconnect any top hoses and wires? then roll it away and inspect for leak, right?

I really appreciate all your time and help.

[JohnGD]

DIY dropping fuel tank:
DIY: GEN 3 and 4 Fuel tank removal with pics!

The larger line is vent hose and the smaller one is evap hose. But you have to find out if it's from the hoses or the connections on the tank/canister for example.

Work on a near empty tank or have a safe way to siphon the fuel out. Exercise all fuel related precautions. A regular jack is not stable, maybe fabricate a platform in place of the saddle from plywood I dunno.

[JohnGD]

To remove the exhaust pipe you should only need to remove the rear section behind the catalytic converter. In fact, the less flanges you need to separate the better because of rust and seized fasteners (for example, leave the muffler flanges).

The main problem with removing the exhaust is the rusted nuts and studs. Some nuts simply won't turn (given the amount of space even with a breaker bar), or they will turn and then seize up just before coming off the studs and then the studs break. If those are the cases then you'll need to drill off the nuts and maybe replace the studs. One TN member suggested drilling on the side of the nut with increasing sizes of drills. You really need titanium or cobalt drills here because these are hardened fasteners.

Also, you'll need new flange gasket(s). But once the flanges are separated you can simply slide the pipes off their hangers (with rubber insulators).