my car fixed itself..

[bowlofturtle]

Ha! Gave me a great laugh today.

The infiniti in my sig is my daily. Back in May I had a CEL for small evap leak. I would clear it and it would come back like clockwork. I checked the basics up top, fuel cap sealing decent and evap purge solenoid activated when i gave it 12v. I cleared it and it would come back, flash forward to July when i actually had time to crawl under and get to the canister and 2 other valves, applied voltage and heard them click. I was out of ideas without a smoke machine.

Early this month i noticed the CEL finally turned off, i figured it one of those trip cycles things but its stored in pending/memory. Pulled out my scanner today because i had time, WOW no codes in stored or pending. No codes what so ever. Its like the fault never happened. I checked the readiness monitors, all are green. Obviously i'm happy, i never thought the fault would completely clear itself.

I honestly believe the fault to be gas cap related as thats the only thing that could have been tweaked every fill up. I expect this code to come back at one point. My car is a rust belt car, i wouldn't be surprised if something rusted out.

 

[OneEyeJack]

You should try laying hands on another car with a mysterious problem. If that fixes it you might have a new calling. Did turtle soup give you special powers?

 

[bowlofturtle]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
You should try laying hands on another car with a mysterious problem. If that fixes it you might have a new calling. Did turtle soup give you special powers?


The soup might have, or a strange yearning for pizza.

 

[spasm3]

Evaps can be a pain, the cap unless new is always suspect in my book. Can depend on temp, fuel level etc. I'd start with the cap.

 

[BrocLuno]

Any overfills will put you in harms way. Running with 7/8's down to 1/4 tank and not over filling will clear eventually. Could have been nozzle at station ... Maybe filled at different station and not quite so full ...

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
Ha! Gave me a great laugh today.

I honestly believe the fault to be gas cap related as that's the only thing that could have been tweaked every fill up. I expect this code to come back at one point. My car is a rust belt car, I wouldn't be surprised if something rusted out.


Often it is rusted out lines from either side the fuel filler tube going into the tank or the tube itself. Remove the wheel well liner on the filler side and check their condition.

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Evaps can be a pain, the cap unless new is always suspect in my book. Can depend on temp, fuel level etc. I'd start with the cap.


From my experience the issue has never been the cap; it's usually a vacuum line or bad purge or vent valve.

 

[Duffyjr]

I think you're right thinking it is/was the cap. My Buick was doing this and mech told me to clean the cap and nozzle real good, hasn't come back on yet.

 

[bowlofturtle]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Evaps can be a pain, the cap unless new is always suspect in my book. Can depend on temp, fuel level etc. I'd start with the cap.


From my experience the issue has never been the cap; it's usually a vacuum line or bad purge or vent valve.


Same with me. I've replace more purge or vent valves than anything else when i see evap codes. The other cars i've seen were obvious damage of the charcoal canister. Never had I seen a gas cap fix an evap problem.

In my head it makes sense that it could be the cap, i've always made sure its on with a good seal. I actually had a feeling right after i posted it, the CEL would be back... still waiting.

 

[mightymousetech]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Evaps can be a pain, the cap unless new is always suspect in my book. Can depend on temp, fuel level etc. I'd start with the cap.


I have repaired hundreds and hundreds of evap leaks. Only once was it the cap. It is actually more common to have a damaged filler neck from a rodent chewing through it.