Ok so yesterday I went to the closest dealership to get some recalls taken care of on my car. Previous owner never bothered with them.

Any way I have had a random check engine light yesterday on the way there making three times since owning the car (three and a half months now). Everything always seemed fine and a previous check by the dealership I bought it from reveled nothing. It is always very random and my driving is pretty consistent.

Well I ask about checking the code at the dealership where I was getting the recalls done but they said it would be $80. I told them never mind, I can get someone to do it for free on his lunch. Well one of the recalls was an O2 sensor the guy seen the check engine and thought it might have been a bad O2 or something and read the code. It turns out it is lose gas cap, says he cleared the code and everything else was checked out fine.

Well on the way back had to take a gravel road and again the light comes on. So since this appears to be my gas cap causing the code but it is not loose I guess I need to find a cure.

So my question is could my gas cap just be garbage (the stock cap), or could the sensor that detects this be what is going bad? Is there a way to test just the sensor? Should I just buy an aftermarket cap (one that locks, a lot of fuel theft going on around here now) to see if it is just the cap?

Anyone else had issues with the gas cap causing the check engine light to come on randomly?
Also I am putting the cap on tight enough since all it does is click after a certain point. I am getting older but I know I can put a gas cap on.

Raist

 

The gas line have perssure in it, a missing gas cap means there's a leak somewhere from that point...

 

Thread title makes it seem as if you have a magic gas cap...

 

Since you know the gas cap is there and you tighten it down until you hear the clicks I would have to say your problem is the sensor that detects the cap. I have no idea how to test the sensor though.

 

A few things to consider, there is no one sensor that checks to see if the gas cap is loose. There is however several solenoids and actuators that are part of the EGR and EVAP system. I recently tried several different things with my ROM and found that if any one of the lines in the EVAP system are disconnected or loose then it will throw a check engine light pretty quickly. there is a large line that come up the fire wall next to the fuel lines (hard lines) that turns into a rubber line that might come loose. Also there are a few lines in the back under the car that can come loose. That big mess of vacuum lines behind the intake manifold is part of the EGR and EVAP system, check them all very carefully. I have almost all of them if you need any of them. If the fuel pump was ever replaced and the lines weren't put back on snugly or something was disconnected it could cause this code to be thrown. If you don't have emissions checks there you could just bypass all of that by modding the ROM and never have to worry about that code again! let me know if I can do anything to help you.

Josh

 

Probably the cap or filler tube. We replace alot of those at Acura

 

This is a funny thread but it is weird that you dont know how to put a gas cap on! Lol j/k

 

Thats funny we do also with ALOT of Nissans but not so with Toyota but there were a few Corollas that did tho a couple years ago.

 

Thanks for all the responses so far.

I am sure I would have noticed some sort of leak by now, though it is possible to miss one I guess.


Jmelocik, that sounds like it might take some time to check for all of that. I will have to plan to do that this weekend. I have to admit that some of what you said is a bit overwhelming and I will have to research it. But I know I can follow lines and check plugs to see if any are loose. I know where the pump is located and have looked at the write up on removal and install several times. So I at least can follow some of what you said. Could it be possible though that I do have a bad sensor somewhere that does read for pressurization/leak might be going bad? If so where is/are it/they and can they be tested?


1d10t, I was thinking about this today. I was wondering if the filler tube is not having sealing issues near where the cap is. I also did take the time to inspect the rubber seal around the cap itself and it looked fine.


Thanks again for the responses. I just can’t understand why I got it twice in one day when before it had only been twice in the three and a half months of owning the car. I think it might have something to do with bumps in the road, but the Evo ride is sort of bumpy any way. That and the roads around here are similar to driving on coble stone. Other than that I cannot figure out why it would come on.

Raist

 

maybe your car is "thirsty"

 

I feel asleep in that part of Drivers Ed class.

Add that to what my wife tells me about old age taking root and I guess you could say my mind roams off. Someday they will find me wandering around and not sure of whom I am according to her.

Raist

 

One thing to check is the evap canister/vent control valve. (black box in rear of car) They are common in nissans and trigger the EVAP small leak detected/EVAP gross leak detected codes..

Goodluck man

 

Im actually having a problem with my car also... the gas light keeps coming on and it seems as if it wont ever go off! Oh thats right im driving an Evo

 

Try another gas cap. Had another friend same problem different car . Got a different gas cap and problem went away. Just my two cents. Fast easy thing to check.

 

Maybe Malik EvoIX’s post was meant for you then and your car is the thirsty one.

I hope you find out why your light keeps coming on. When you do post it here though so we all have that knowledge for later.

Raist