evap leak? scam? - Maintenance and Repair Forum

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evap leak? scam?
Saturday, September 29, 2007 10:03 PM
About 2 weeks ago my check engine light came on and i went into a shop to get it checked out.. (probabley a bad idea but i dont know what else to do"

went in.. bla bla bla.. dude plugs in that thing and he says its a leak in my evap system

then he said something along these lines "ohh its probably a pin hole sized leak in a line.. were going to have to fill the engine bay with smoke to find it"

i go "alright what ever!" and i leave because its going to take them hours to get to work on it because there a 1971 Charger on the bay and everybodys drooling over it..

so i get a call from them like 5 hours later saying that it was my gas cap.. and that its part of the evap system costs me like $20.. +$130 for like an hour and a half of work..

so yesterday after having it for a week the check engine light comes back on

My questions are this
Are these dudes just screwing me for all my money?

or is this something i could find and replace on my own?

and what really is the code for an evap leak?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

i've already dropped like $150 into these dudes and i know you guys are really knowledgeable about things.. ive been reading this forum for a little over a year now and i never had to post anything until now

but thanks in advance for reading

P.S. the car goes in Monday morning any help before then would be fantastic i would love to go into this place calling there bull@!#$ if there is any

Re: evap leak? scam?
Sunday, September 30, 2007 12:02 AM
my last evap code was a leak in my gas filler neck. fixed that with gastank putty.

and yes a bad or loose gas cap can cause a code. even some vacuum lines will. a had a rotten map sensor hose that needed to be replaced.



1997 RedR - ZedR
Re: evap leak? scam?
Sunday, September 30, 2007 7:33 AM
i wrote: P0440 relates directly to the evaporative emissions system. the parts that it monitors include (from stern to stem): the gas cap, the gas fill neck, the gas tank, the gas tank pressure sensor, the vacuum lines running from the tank to the evap canister, the canister itself, the valve on the canister, the lines from the canister to the purge valve, the purge valve itself, and finally, the line from the purge valve to the intake manifold.
if any one of these 16 parts is faulty, it could trigger the 0440. the most common place to begin diagnosis is with the gas cap, as if not screwed on tight enough (by yourself or the gas station attendant) -or- if the rubber on the cap has degraded enough to not make a seal, then this code could be thrown. a gas cap should not cost more than $6-$8 at your local parts tore. next, a visual inspection of the lines to see if any are cracked, broken, kinked, or otherwise pinched off/leaking. if, after these inspections have been made and determined to not be the cause of the problem, i wold recommend getting your emissions system smoke tested.the parts after these simple diagnoses can get quite expensive depending on where you get them from, and as such, you'll only want to change the part thats causing the issue.
take it back to them, have them re-do the smoke test. tell them the cap didnt fix it. if they've got any integrity, they'll do it w/o a charge.



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Re: evap leak? scam?
Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:26 AM
wow.. Alright

ill do that and yes i hope they don't charge me.. ill just try some social engineering on that

but thanks a bunch! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!
Re: evap leak? scam?
Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:32 AM
purge solenoids are common to fail too


Re: evap leak? scam?
Sunday, September 30, 2007 1:35 PM
Check the wires that lead to the purge solenoid as well. My wife's 01 had cracked and separated from the connector, causing the light to come on. One trip to the boneyard and $5 later it was fixed.

Good luck.




Re: evap leak? scam?
Friday, October 05, 2007 7:54 AM
Alright i got it back from the shop tuesday afternoon.. the guy said he found a bad O-ring and replaced it..

and he dident charge me i showed up he gave me my keys and sent me on my way..

awesome..

the weeks brought no other check engine lights so im guessing he acctuley fixed it..

I would like to thank you all for responding so quickly

your all awesome!
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