Hi, my 1998 1.3mpi Felicia has started making strange smells when it gets hot. These seems to come from the charcoal canister ( emissions control) situated next to the battery. It also fizzes and hisses quietly from the canister when the engine is hot. Is this normal? Can / should the charcoal canister need replacing?

Thanks.

maybe yes... have you checked the purge valve is working??

Thanks, how do I check the purge valve?

Thanks, how do I check the purge valve?

Haynes says to check the resistance across the terminals. Unplug, get out a multimeter and it should apparently read at between 35 and 55 ohms at 20 degrees celcius. This is for the Favorit but I suspect the Felicia will be similar values.

The smell turned out to be coming from an overheated battery due to a faulty voltage regulator. A new alternator ( also damaged) fixed it and the battery seems to have survived the overcharging. Hopefully the ECU will be OK too, it seems fine at the mo.

yeah, the ecu has a built in circuit for regulating the supply voltage