Hey guys,
My short lived love affair with my new 99 SE-L is turning bittersweet. I just came back from droping my girlfriend off and when I exited the car after pulling into my garage I heard a weird pulsating whining noise. I had heard it before, but since i live in an apartment building I thought it was the water pipes running through the garage. Wrong! So i carefully listen and crawl under the car to see where it is coming from. I found the source. On the drivers side next to the spare tire bay there is a black box with all sorts of hoses etc running to it. (I think- I did not have a flashlight on me) There is also a white round piece near/associated with it. I put my had on each hose/pipe and found that it was one of these hoses that was pulsating/whining/vibrating (that was realted to this box I think. What the heck is this piece and why is it making this noise? It's annoying/scary. Oh and by the way, the noise is back with the hard shift from park to reverse. Its hard like when you park on an incline and shift, yet my spot is pretty flat, maybe a 10 deggree pitch- I dont hink that it would be enought for a hard shift. I am really satring to get angry. BUT my shifts from first to second are still smooth with the new motor mounts installed. Please! I want to know what this part is!! Thanks

 

It's the EVAP canister.

 

Do a search,I think you can clean Evap vent control valve.And you can try pulling the parking brake up when you park and see if it help when you shift.Good luck.

 

yea, sounds like the EVAP canister or the Vent control valve like others suggested.

I've had this pop up on both of my maximas.


Word of advise,
you do not need to replace the canister or the valve.

Typically, a faulty VCV will trigger 2 "check engine light" codes. One for the VCV and one for the EVAP canister. fixing the valve will clear both codes.

This thing has pretty much no effect on emissions or your cars performance. Although I did not notice these noises that you speak about, but from your description of the source, it is definately the Canister or the Vent control valve.

What i did is pull it off.. take the valve apart, wash it and spray some WD40 on it.. problem fixed.

the valve is exremely delicate and can easily get stuck open.. all it needs is some cleaning.. there is no mechanism involved either, so no need to replace it.

 

is this worth to bring in to thed deaoler and ha e them take a look at it? I am gettting no CEL, but the noise worries me.

 

It's either your gas tank venting into the canister or the canister being released. No CEL means don't worry about it. My Yamaha whistles loud when the tank vents. Been like that from day 1.

 

NO CEL, so I guess I am okay. I will just leave it alone and wait for the CEL to go on for anything. It's true what they say, you can't let the things you own wind up owning you!
Thanks Guys. NJMAX, what aprt of jersery are you from? My father lives in edison, I would love to see your Max, and have you look at mine if you would like. Later!

 

I justhad my CEL light up the other day, too. I checked my ECU and it told me my EVAP valve was closed. I went under the car and found the box, but Where IS THE VALVE? I didn't bother taking anything apart, but I reset my ECU and the light hasn't come back on.

Should I purchase a Chilton or Haynes manual for the best instructions on how to clean this?

 

OK, I purchased the Chilton's manual over the weekend and looked over the information about the EVAP cannister and valve. The manual doesn't give specific instructions on how to clean the valve. Do I have to remove the cannister from the car to get to the valve? Anybody?

 

I agree with VQMax:

I've always noticed that if you let automatic cars rest on the parking gear, it will always be a bit difficult to pull put to R or D. So, I always pull the handbrake BEFORE I shift into Park. Next time you park on an incline, do this in this sequence:

Come to a stop, shift to neutral, pull up on handbrake, let go of regular brakes, car will settle, shift to park.

You won't have any difficulty when shifting out of Park if you do this because the car is resting on the handbrake and not the parking gear. Much better for the peace of mind.