Foreign Service Continuing his dissection of the Toyota intrusive evapo-
rative emissions system, Dan introduces major system
components, functions and locations in this installment.
T
he Foreign Service columns
from January through April
2006 dealt exclusively with Toy-
ota’s early (nonintrusive) evapo-
Dan rative emissions system. Last
month’s column covered leak
Marinucci test tips that apply to both the early and late
(intrusive) systems. Toyota began using the in-
trusive-style evap in the early 2000s.
Here, I’ll explain operation of the intrusive
system, which is really just a refined version of
the nonintrusive design. Let’s look at the de-
tails that distinguish one system from the oth-
er, referring to the illustration below where
necessary.
First of all, the charcoal canister assembly
on a typical intrusive evap system is mounted
under the rear of the vehicle. Bummer!
The vapor pressure sensor on many nonintru-
sive systems was conveniently located under the
16 June 2006
hood. But on the intrusive setup, it’s under the
rear of the vehicle alongside the canister assem-
bly. Sometimes the sensor is located right on the
fuel tank sending unit. This sensor works just
like the one on the early system, but now it’s
connected directly to the fuel tank. Therefore, it
constantly senses tank pressure.
Referring to the illustration below, note that
the bypass VSV (vacuum switching valve) sep-
arates the fuel tank side of the system from
the charcoal canister side. The bypass VSV,
which is on the canister assembly (photo 1 on
page 18), is normally off electrically. Normally,
it’s mechanically closed so it physically sepa-
rates the two sides of the intrusive system.
The only time the ECM energizes the bypass
VSV is during the evap monitor. When the
computer turns on this VSV, the valve opens,
allowing the vapor pressure sensor to sense
pressure of the entire system.
The purge VSV works
the same way and is in
the same basic location
(under the hood) on both
early and late systems.
Note that its electrical
connector is usually a teal
(blue/green) color. If you
happen to use an OE-
type scanner and soft-
ware (Vetronix Mas-
tertech), don’t let the dis-
play confuse you: It iden-
tifies the purge solenoid
Illustration & photos: Dan Marinucci
valve as an “EVAP” VSV.
Like the early evap
setup, the late system has
a pair of mechanical
valves called the tank
valve assembly and air
valve assembly mounted
on the canister. But on
the right side of my illus-
tration is an additional
part that really distin-
continued on page 18
Foreign Service

guishes the intrusive system from its

predecessor. It’s the canister-closed
1 VSV, which is commonly called the
CCV, and works just like a vent sole-
noid valve on a common domestic en-
hanced evap system. It’s basically a
computer-controlled back door to the
entire system. This means that me-
chanically the CCV is normally open
and electrically it’s normally off. The
only time the computer energizes and
closes the CCV is during the evap
monitor. The CCV also supplies fil-
tered fresh air to the intrusive system
during a purge cycle.
Typically, the canister vent solenoid
on a domestic evap system is vulnera-
ble to the weather and to road dirt
because it’s under the rear of the ve-
hicle. Fortunately for all concerned,
Toyota’s CCV is usually mounted on
or near the air cleaner housing (photo
2) under the hood. Matter of fact,
2 finding a CCV on the air cleaner
housing or seeing it cited on the un-
derhood decal is a simple way to iden-
tify an intrusive evap system.
By the way, the underhood location
for the CCV isn’t carved in stone be-
cause I noticed that one was mounted
alongside the canister assembly under
the rear of a 2003 Camry with the
LEV II emissions system.
Testing the intrusive system is rela-
tively easy provided you patiently fol-
low procedure. Tune in next month
for this detailed diagnostic format,
which shows you how to test both
sides of the system. I’ll look for you
then!

Circle #14
18 June 2006