canister in front of starter? Needed? Help please!
 

OK guys,
in the middle of an engine change for our 24 hours of lemons supra. so the only stuff we need is a strong running engine. There is a "canister" that sits in front of the starter, attached to the lower block. It appears as if it has vacuum line that goes into the bottom of some sensor on top of the intake. I am guessing cruise control stuff, and not neccisary, but I sure as heck don't want to take it off, and have it be something vital, that messes up the computer -

anyone know what this is? and if it can be safely eliminated?

Carl Johansson

It's a vacuum reservoir for the ACIS system. Its purpose is to ensure that there is sufficient vacuum to actuate the ACIS diaphragm under low vacuum conditions. If you want the ACIS system operating fully then leave it.

\OK Cre,
Thanks for the info, now if I can just figure out what ACIS is, I'll be good. I determined it was a vacuum reservoir canister essentially, and am concerned about the brake boost, but it does not seem to be connected.

So Now the big question? What is ACIS?

It's a system that alters air flow characteristics (velocity and pressure)in order to essentially switch a fixed dimension intake between the characteristics of a short runner and long runner system. ACIS was the first system Toyota used like this in a production video and T-VIS was the next step. While primarily geared toward the T-VIS system this page seems to have decent info on it: http://turbomr2.com/MR2/Reference/TVIS/TVIS.htm


Synopsis: Think "it's the thing that makes sure I have decent torque at both high and low RPM".


EDIT: The ACIS system was only used in N/As whereas the T-VIS system was used in forced induction applications as well.