What is this thing?

[Skitter302]

I was under the hood making sure everything was clean(ish) and connected when I saw a box with nobs on it.

zoom in

zoom in once more

Numbers on the front half and Letters on the rear half. It also has a metal line running from it to the back of the Bronco.

I have never seen this before and I have no guesses what it is or what it does.

What do the nobs do? (yes they turn).

 

[NaturalRampage]

I believe it's called a Charcoal Canister, it is meant for your EVAP system. The vapor from the gas tank are routed towards the canister to be absorbed into the canister. Usually the vapors are drawn into the engine by vacuum into the intake manifold to be burned.

 

[Skitter302]

So what do the knobs do?

 

[Seabronc]

So what do the knobs do?

They are just caps.

 

[miesk5]

yo,

The caps are "dust" caps; as cited by FORD

The activated charcoal inside the canister absorbs gasoline vapor from the fuel tank (& in certain applications, crankcase vapors) until the CANP (canister purge) valve opens, allowing manifold vacuum to pull fresh air in thru the dust cap, collecting the stored vapors, & drawing them into the engine to be burned.

Here is what an Explorer's Tank looks like with caps removed (one for purge valve & other for fresh air;



more LINKs in my archived site @ http://web.archive.org/web/20110704090258/http://www.broncolinks.com/index.php?index=1002

 

[Skitter302]

OK!

Thanks all!