Does it have anything to do with the air canister? A vaccum line that goes to it has collapsed and is preventing any vaccum from it. I wonder if that has been the cause of my gas tank not venting properly??

 

The vacuum bulb is basically like a capacitor for vacuum. It keeps you vac powered equipment (HVAC parts mostly) from crapping out when engine vacuum drops. I doubt that it could cause that kind of problem, but a collapsed line certainly isn't helping anything.