I think we are talking about the charcoal canister for collecting fuel vapors from the tank, which used to be a standard issue emmissions component. Seems it might have gone the way of the distributor cap. I will put up a "lost" sign on my telephone pole and see if anyone has seen it.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra