Evap ?

[john40iowa]

I have a question regarding our '99 Forester. Recently the check engine light stayed on. It was unbelievably hot here; and, I disconnected the battery which resulted in the light staying off for a week or two. Of course it came back on and I went to Advance who plugged in and found it was the "Evap control system" which could be one of a few things according to the list. Since it is so old I went ahead and got a gas cap, but essentially that is probably wishful thinking. A wealth of info is found here under search, but my real need is when the light comes back on where would you all start? I checked the connections under the hood and the solenoid is tightly connected and it's rubber hoses look fine. I smell no gas under the back wheel well. I kinda hate to buy a power wrench to remove the wheel and take off the filler tube cover, but if others here think it wise than that will be next. Does the charcoal box located under the rear tail gate ever actually go bad? Thanks as always for any pointers.

[john40iowa]

Well I did not take it apart, but I got under the car and the canister looks perfectly fine as does the rubber hoses; the bottom of the fuel filler tube looks good and solid, but some rust is visible as you look toward the top, and a slight bit of rust was present and wiped out from the inside lip of the entry point fuel pipe. The screws that hold the top end are not rusted but clearly they're not going anywhere and this job seems beyond (I don't want to drill with gas fumes) me. My next question is would a Bodo fiberglass wrap work for a year or two and it be safe with fuel present? I could forgo the usual full tank if that prolong it's life and buy me some time.

[Rooster2]

Is your thought of using Bondo to forestall further rusting?? If that is you want, I would simply buy a can of fiberglass resin. Then after cleaning off as much rust as possible with a rag, I would simply use a paint brush to paint the resin on. The resin comes with a hardening agent that you mix with the resin to get the resin to harden up. Once the resin hardens up, the metal that it covers will no longer be exposed to air, salt, whatever, and will no longer rust.

 

I just stopped a CEL light from displaying a code for evap control system on an Oldsmobile by buying a new gas cap. The counter guy at AZ advised this fix, and it worked. Surprised me that a new gas cap fixed the problem. I hate to think what a dealer would have charged to diagnose, and sell me a new gas cap.