Destroyed Vapor Canister - Question

[ChoochCharlie]

Just picked up a 1999 Suburban for my wife. Overall, in great shape.
This morning she goes out to drive it, and it loses all power going up the small slight hill near our house.
She put it in reverse and coasted back to the house and got in the driveway. She says it smelled like sulfur and had no power.
I came out and took it for a spin and now warmed up, it ran great.

Check under the hood and notice this:



The Vapor Canister is blown apart on top.
Replacement is easy. Just ordered the part.

Questions:
What would cause this? #1 culprit seems to be topping off the tank.
What else should I change? What other cause for the symptoms would you recommend checking?

 

[Phantom240]

"Smells like sulfur and has no power" sounds like a classic case of catalytic converter failure.

 

[Gzes]

Test cat. At night drive a while and pull over and get under. If cat is glowing the. Cats bad

 

[ChoochCharlie]

Yea. I thought Cat too (had one go bad on a Mazda years ago)
But this thing runs great all other times but cold. Highway up to 85mph, no problem.

I will check though. Truck is new to me so it could have several issues all at once for sure.

 

[SunlitComet]

that canister just did not blow apart it looks like it has been deteriorating for a while. if you can get some more close up hi-res photos i can look into it further. if you stop filling at pump shut off then there is nothing to worry about. i will looking into other cuases but i need the details of vehicle weight classification and engine size and whether federal or cali emissions.

---------- Post added at 09:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 AM ----------

now the sulfur would be a hydrogen release from additives release. it should not blow out a vapor canister tho. where do you get your gasoline from? and can you at least examine 2 diagonally spark plugs and get some hi-res photos of those as well?

 

[ChoochCharlie]

Update:
Replaced the canister. No change.

Happened the other morning to me driving.
Cold, pull out of the driveway and head up a slight hill. Loss of power.
But instead of mashing the pedal as my wife did and smelled the sulfur, I eased up on the pedal. Eased up to the stop sign never really accelerating, then when I pulled away, all was fine and it drive normal the rest of the day.

Check engine light came on today. Gonna get it into the dealer next week for some better diagnosis.

 

[SunlitComet]

just get the codes scanned for free at a parts store.