So I was driving my 99 Passport yesterday and the Check engine light comes on. I am pissed since I just replaced the ABS pump solenoid a week ago ($292), and the other day the 4wd popped out (transfer case popped into neutral while in 4wd). So I take it to Autozone and they run a code, Evap Can Emissions, in other words, gas cap loose or faulty. Well it had been over 200 miles since I put fuel in, so I check it out. Well the cold weather cracked the threads on the cap when I tightened it down, so I had to get a new one today. I know it is an EPA thing with OBDII to have the gas cap functional and not venting to the atmospher, but why through a check engine light. Make a simple little light that say "gas cap", or just "cap" if it is not secure. Anyone else have this problem.

PS- At Autozone, I had to push the buttom to erase the code to shut the light off. The guy said Autozone got sued by the EPA for resetting Check Engine lights on car at the owners' requests. Stupid.

 

djmtsu,
Well, it's not really a test for emissions, but a test for the fuel system pressure. This is why you often hear of people's check engine light going on if they fill up the car with the engine running.
From what I understand, that error code should clear up after starting and stopping the car a few times.
Now, keep in mind the manufacturers motivation here. How much money is made when the car is sold? A grand? Maybe two? In most cases, money comes at service time. If an error code is thrown that your gas cap is loose, how is that going to bring people into the stealerships worried that their engines are on the brink of dying? The only solution we have is to rely on places like AutoZone until they are forced to stop reading the codes or buy our own code reader. My wife's car is a 1996 Civic, so I know I'm going to have to buy a code reader at some point.
Bogatyr

 

No need for a code reader. Just get a $10 haynes manual and it'll tell you how to hook up a $.10 jumper line and read the codes from the check engine light.

I know this 'cause I pulled an EVAP code not too long ago, and is the reason I ended up here. Guess it's time to check the gas cap.

 

actually fuel vapor is an emissions related item its know as the fifth gas. fuel vapors are harmfull to the atmosphere just like exhaust, and the way the ecu tests the cap or the fill side for leaks into the atmosphere is through pressure.

 

My 99 CRV just tripped 60k miles. Guess what? Engine light is ON. What a shock, eh? Is that nothing more than an odometer trip, or should I get the code read?

Thanks, Spy

 

Definitly get the code read, its free at AutoZone.... :a:

 

Only a total MORON would put fuel into a car while the engine is running! (Illegal, too.)

 

Hmmm, I think some of you guys are misinformed, first if you take it to Autozone the scan tool they use is gonna be a generic scan tool which will only give you a sort of direction to go in or system that's failing. Autozone is great for free but I've always been scared of a parts house that do free diag's of Mil lights(check engine light) and have absolutely NO training in that field. A dealership uses the factory scan tool to pull codes and is much more specific on the code, and generally will provide what they call a "freeze frame" of engine conditions at the time the light was commanded to come on. This is a helpful feature along with others like a factory trained tech using the tool, Factory Techline which can be very helpful in giving common fixes for reoccuring complaints and problems within say the 99 model passport. Also in your case i know that it would be more specific in the evap system, for instance the code would be say a p0456 or a P0457 which would tell me that it's a leak on the fuel tank side or the canister side, which could reduce diag times and get the right part/fix the first time so you can get down the road again. I think Autozone would be a little more guessing it.

Also OBD2 codes do not just go away after a few trips, they are designed to stay on until cleared by a tech after diag and a repair is made. Sux but thank uncle sam and the lefty enviroheads who thought this would somehow save us all from the "Evil" smog. Did you know that one volcano produces more harmful polution than all the cars ever made in the last hundred years? hmmm maybe we should smog volcano's

I think carl sule sayes a dealership average customer who buys a car is worth like 30k to the dealership or something like that(someone help me here if you read the book,"customer's for life")

Honestly i think your calling a dealership a "stealership" is pretty lame, I mean nobody's forcing you to buy a car or service it from a dealer. I have invested half of a price of a decent house in cali for tools, tons and tons of hours of time training to be a better tech and I am always fixing cars for "free" as a thank you from me to my customer for bringing the business to me. I think it's unfair to label all of us that way, there are good techs out there like me who don't deserve that. ask my customers who have followed me over the years from the honda dealer to the acura dealer I'm at now.

I think that that other guy had a better idea then the autozone thing, buy a manual, preferable a helms and jump the "scs" connector with a paper clip to retrieve your own codes, super cheap and works most of the time really good.

Sorry for the ranting, just thought I'd maybe share a little and hopefully someone will gain something from this.