Remove evap loss system from California FJ 1200.

[gslab]

I rebuilt the carbs on my 87 FJ and noticed some plumbing that I had not seen on CV carbs before. The original owner (I'm 4 days into being the 3rd owner) was from California, and a quick check of the factory manual confirms that this is part of the emissions control package unique to California.

My natural inclination is remove anything that's not needed on my equipment (one less thing to get in the way when trying to diagnose a problem) and in the case of the FJ it looks like removing the charcoal canisters and tubing may increase airflow to the top end of the engine. I know that it would sure make it easier to adjust the idle control.

Any issues associated with doing this surgery? Do I plug up the carb connections or leave them open?

[Firehawk068]

The California members will probably chime in, as I'm not 100% certain on the emission control version.

I believe the fuel bowl vent hoses are what normally run to the charcoal canister.

On the NON-California spec bikes, the fuel bowl vent hoses are routed down the rear of the engine, and exit somewhere down near the center-stand. They are just open to the atmosphere.
These cannot be plugged with caps, they need to be left open.

[copper]

Do you have a pic of what your are talking about. The charcoal canisters go to the front of the bike there is also a solenoid or something that the vent hoses go too. I know for sure you cannot plug the vent hoses. I had all kinds of problems with my bike and turned out one of the vent lines was kinked

[airheadPete]

Going from (weak) memory here, but...
Pulled that CA crap off of my '92 here in WA and threw it in a box. I remember there being a couple of check valves, and maybe something with wires. I put plugs on everything that might cause a vacuum leak, (look carefully to see where the lines originate. Before, or after the carb throat? (venturi)), and routed overflow lines down past the battery box/forward of the swingarm. I was concerned about ill effects, but had none.
It cleared up a huge amount of space over the top of the engine, she runs just fine.
You may want to check the books for 49 state vs. CA jetting. They may be different. (I'd expect not-so-lean for the rest of the country.)
Monkey? Fred? Anybody else want to chime in?? I did this so long ago, I don't want to screw him up.

[Chutem]

I have a '93 CA. I removed all the hoses & the 2 canisters years ago. It's pretty straight forward. I think there were 2 vacuum ports that had to be plugged & maybe a solenoid. In the Yamaha shop manual, there is a diagram of the system connections (I think it was an addendum in the manual). Overflow lines just hang down. Only vacuum connection goes to the "advancer" (??) inside the right side front fairing. I also removed all the ABS crap as it was becoming problematic. Probably saved 10 pounds or so. Just need to figure out how to turn off the ABS light on the dash (pulling the module and/or fuse under the seat didn't help). 

[FJmonkey]

The emissions on the CA FJs had two conditions, engine running and engine off. Engine off means any fuel vapor gets routed to the charcoal cans and temporarily absorbed. Engine running allows the carbs to pull from the cans and burn off the fuel. The details of removing the system has already been posted. The solenoid and all tubing to the cans get tossed. The carbs need to vent so these tubes go down near the swing arm pivot. You will also want to do the Flapectomy. If you don't and your tank cannot vent it will pressurize. I discovered this on my '89, stop for fuel, open cap, whoosh of air and vapor from the tank. That explains why the garage has that strong fuel smell. I will perform the Flapectomy this weekend. Use the search function to find the details and follow them. If you lose the tiny steel ball then the little flap that covers the key hole will not stay propped up. No big deal but a nice feature.

The electrical connection to the solenoid is nice to use for other things like heated grips. Even if you leave them switched on, when you cut the ignition, this connection loses power saving your battery.

[airheadPete]

"The electrical connection to the solenoid is nice to use for other things like heated grips. Even if you leave them switched on, when you cut the ignition, this connection loses power saving your battery."

  ^^^ Nice idea! Never occurred to me, I'll have to do that sometime.

[FJ_Hooligan]

I also removed all the ABS crap as it was becoming problematic. Probably saved 10 pounds or so. Just need to figure out how to turn off the ABS light on the dash (pulling the module and/or fuse under the seat didn't help). 

I did this a couple of months ago and I removed the pump, module and relay under the rear cowl, and after disconnecting the wheel sensor connectors I was able to remove the whole ABS sub-harness.  The light does not come on anymore. 

Or you could always just pull the bulb.