I just changed the charcoal cannister filter on my 73 Dart. I thought there was a simple method of removing the cover (if you could call it that), which secures the filter to the bottom of the cannister. However, I could not find it and had to resort to using a screw driver to rip the old filter out. I also had to jam the new filter into place and then use the screw driver to try to position it properly.

Is there a right way to install this filter?

Also, I noticed that my idle fuel mixture had leaned out considerably after changing this filter and had to richen it a few turns to get my car to idle smoothly again. I also had to turn down my idle speed setting about 75 RPM in the process.

Frank

Pretty much the way you did it is the right way. It's not pretty or neat, but there's usually no "E-Z" provision for a filter change.

I't s a fairly good bet that the activated charcoal inside the canister has long since ceased to be active. I've wondered about forcing open, emptying and refilling these canisters, but never tried it.

That's a relief. When I first flipped the cannister over, it looked as if the cover either screwed off or pried off. Since I couldn't budge it either way, I decided to just do it the ugly way and cram the new one into place.

Since I'm doing so much driving now, I wanted to maximize my gas mileage. Since the cannister purge has a hose similar in size to the PCV hose, I thought a non-functioning vapour recovery system might unnecessarily enrichen my fuel mixture to a small extent.

Frank

Yep, nonfunctional ECS components can definitely screw with fuel economy and driveability.