Anyone know what the purpose of this little black box is?

The top of it is damaged (as you can see in the pic, the orange 'inards' are visible)), and has been since I bought the car.

Any ideas?

oh gawd that'll be your "littleblackboxornageyinardcoveryupthingy" bugger then

sorry its Friday

seems to be a pipe that may connect to the steering reservoir next door? Either way it looks like it's been punctured with something, but could probably be cured by just slapping some underseal on the exposed bit (kidding...)

I'm gonna look now under my bonnet to see if I have a similar pipe...

oh gawd that'll be your "littleblackboxornageyinardcoveryupthingy" bugger then

sorry its Friday

I suspected it was. I'll just keep the bonnet closed, that should sort it

Why do I suddenly get the awful feeling that it's something really obvious, and I'm going to end up looking like a right n0bhead for asking ...

I've had a look at my engine, and I suspect your fuel filter may be under that cover - maybe oil filter? There does seem to be an obvious in & out pipe the same size plus one mystery other. On mine the pipe similar to that goes into what looks like the fuel filter (cylindrical thing) - as fuel is going through there I reckon that hole should be filled with something pretty tough but flexible too fairly quick?

(but then I don't drive a 1.8T so can't comment for sure - K's your man!)

Isn't that the box that goes "tick", as mentioned in this thread?

"charcoal filter" ?? - hehe - I've not heard of that one before. :confused:

Could very well be as the descriptions of where / what it is matches the piccie above.

Cheers Boys .... you've confirmed what I suspected.

If it's the box that "goes tick", then it would explain the smell of fuel in the car occasionally, especially in traffic. I posted a thread about this smell on here ages ago, but no-one else had had the same problem (understandably, now).

When I read the "tick" thread a couple of days ago, I wondered if this was the problem.

The car is going in to a Skoda dealer on monday, so I'll get them to check it out.

Thanks Lads, I might finally be rid of the stink of petrol inside the car ...

:shocked: If there's fuel seeping out of there whilst running.... oh, dear... :(

:shocked: If there's fuel seeping out of there whilst running.... oh, dear... :(

DON'T PANIC MR MANNERING!!!!

Fuel doesn't come out, ever. I checked the whole engine bay carefully (with a match ) when I first noticed the smell. I checked the top of the "blackboxthingy" when I pulled into the car park this morning, and it was totally dry.

But it does need fixing, I quite concur ... :tipspecs:

Would probably be vapour coming out of it, surely?

Rob.

Vapour more likely indeed, Rob. I can get gripfill to plug that gap, from one of our merchants for about

Would probably be vapour coming out of it' date=' surely?

Rob.[/quote']

I assume so. It stinks, sometimes.

At first I thought it was SWMBO's new perfume ...:eek:

My Boss has just suggested that mechanic may have laid a cigarette on the top of the wing panel, resting on the plastic, and forgot about it 'til it was too late.

It does look melted.

If thats how it happened, it's amazing the damage wasn't MUCH worse!!!

Better piccy attached

A mechanic? Laying a cigarette on a fuel filter?! :smalljaw:

Rob.

It's only a theory ...

Could have been the previous owner :eek:

The black container is the activated charcoal canister. The damaged part and pipe are described on ETKA as a breather tube / bleeder valve.

The black container is the activated charcoal canister. The damaged part and pipe are described on ETKA as a breather tube / bleeder valve.

Thanks Denis.

This is almost certainly the cause of the fumes in the car then, although it's odd that it only happens occasionally :confused:

The black container is the activated charcoal canister.

Also known as a purge canister. It's to do with emissions control - the fuel vapours from the fuel injection system (eg manifold) are absorbed by the charcoal when the car is stationary and then slowly let back into the inlet manifold when the engine is running by the purge valve (the thing that ticks).

I think DGW's got it!

I think it's something to do with the EGR? (exhaust gas recirculation?) system in as much as... the charcoal cannister is used to store and filter out excess fuel that escapes? into the cam cover (or something like that) during cold starts and then, once the engine is hot and there is enough stored it's released back into the combustion chamber to be burnt!

Crap explanation I know but my memory is not good on a Friday afternoon!

OK just posted this an Andrew above has given a FAR better answer as I've been typing!

Black box holds data logger so that when u blow up the FBI can work out what happened and mail ur bits to your next of kin. Didnt know Skodas had them though. Of course the Supra doesnt have a black box as to do so would be very incriminating, its bad enough that the car does 3 times the legal limit and I have to be a good boy.

Maybey in a straight line, remember the mountain stage on the Cannonball !!!! I think a Skoda went from 5th to first in one monouvre & from memory I think 2 of the others were Ferraris & wasnt it an M3 in front !!

I would add in your defence that when I was running 150 going back to calais you did go past "rather quickly"

Stuart