I was replacing the air filter in my 2012 C and looked at the top portion of the air box cover and noticed there is an air strainer that is super dirty. There is no way to replace it without spending $250 from Toyota or $67 for a knock off. Can I just remove the strainer all together? I’ve never seen anything like it on any other vehicle.
it appears super dirty because it's activated charcoal. Leave it. It is there so that when you shut down after a drive, any remaining gasoline vapor in the intake manifold cannot escape back to the atmosphere. Instead, it will be absorbed into the charcoal, and then released again into the engine the next time you start the car. So it is self-cycling and lasts forever as long as you don't hurt it too much. Many other cars now include these, they're getting more common because they're cheap*, almost foolproof and they really do reduce hydrocarbon emissions. (cheap to make, parts counter pricing is a different story)
So essentially it’s just another emissions thing that really doesn’t do much with how little emissions these engines produce?
