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I have put it off almost a year but I will have to fix whatever is causing my 1997 Legacy 2.2 SOHC to set a PO440 trouble code in order to pass state vehicle inspection..  I replaced the fuel filler gooseneck last year and that did not do it.  I guess the next thing to shotgun in is the fuel filler cap?  Is a Brand X aftermarket cap from Autozone, for example, fine or an I better advised to get a certain brand from, say, Rock Auto or is this something I should get from a dealer?

 

Any other advice for solving this issue would be much appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Mike V.

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To answer Tex's question, the filler tube apparently was indeed rusted through although we are talking pinholes since really the only evidence was that the outside of the tube down by the bend was "wet" with gasoline.

 

I will not get a cap at the junk yard but it sounds like I should be  ok with whatever they will sell me at AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts, say.

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This is my wife's car so I am not usually the one filing the tank, so I'll plead ignorance on the whoosh.

 

At the risk of sounding lazy.... would you please give me an idea of the location of the "vent solenoid" you are referring to 77?

 

Thank you!

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Thanks again 77.  So this is the solenoid valve near the charcoal canister by the right rear wheel.  OK, I will check it out.

 

The reason I asked about the location is that a few years ago I wasted a bunch of time chasing a issue with the evap. control system because of a discrepancy in terminology...

 

Thanks again,

Mike V

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The 440 is a catchall. Most of the times, it's not a low input, but no ouput. The terminals corrode allowing very little flow or just break completely.

Other times , the hose becomes loose or develops a pinhole.

Inspection is the only way to be sure.

 

O.

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  • 4 weeks later...

When I loosen the gas cap afeter the car has not been driven/started in a couple of days, I do get a "whoosh" as the seal is broken.  Doesn't this rule out a faulty gas cap or for that matter a breach anywhere that is supposed to hold a vacuum?

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When I loosen the gas cap afeter the car has not been driven/started in a couple of days, I do get a "whoosh" as the seal is broken.  Doesn't this rule out a faulty gas cap or for that matter a breach anywhere that is supposed to hold a vacuum?

All the "whoosh" is telling you is that the area immediately in the tank is under vacuum and vapors are being contained. Gas caps are $10-15. If you are getting codes that point to it, just replace it. If the code reappears after you've reset the ECM with a battery disconnect, start looking at the EVAP system. Do you overfill the gas tank? Meaning when the nozzle's vapor detection shuts off the flow from the pump, do you try and force more fuel in? If so, that fuel can actually enter the charcoal canister (ruining it) along with flooding the hoses to it, and cause drivability issues, codes, etc. Or it could be something that failed on it's own to leaky vacuum lines. EVAP issues are rather annoying as the system runs basically the length of the car as it includes the fuel tank area. Best bet is to eliminate the cheapest common issues (fuel cap) and hoses along with visually inspecting the charcoal canister which should be dry, but will wreak of raw gas fumes. 

 

Check this link for P0440 solutions:

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0440

Edited by Bushwick
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I have not gotten the P0440 trouble code in  a couple of weeks (Although I have gotten P0136).  But the readiness for Evap Sys. Monitor still shows Incomplete!  So this has been over 100 miles and numerous starts yet the "Inc" remains.  What the heck does the thing need in order to feel complete???

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Downstream O2 code =

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0136  

 

 

You live in PA, right? Might just want to take the car somewhere (really hard to trace stuff you are better off going to the dealer and paying a few $$ more as they'll correctly diagnose it) and have it looked over and be done with it. If the EVAP system is offline or not communicating with a reader, it won't pass PA's inspection.

 

 

I ran into an issue on my previous Lincoln Mark VIII and my Saab 9-3 (both are OBD II) with readers not being able to communicate (i.e. scanner would say not ready). What was happening was I'd take a car to auto parts store, ask them to pull codes, they'd connect the reader, pull codes, all was fine. Months later would get another scan, only this time they couldn't get scanner to communicate. Out of pure frustration at the time (I knew no one else had touched the car) I removed the screws holding the OBD II port so it could hang and I wouldn't be on my back with head on foot area looking up, I discovered one of the crimps for the pins in the OBD II connector had backed out by like 1/16". Pressed back in, took back for code pulling, and still no connection. Asked the guy to leave it connected and let me in the car. Checked once more and lo and behold the stupid pin backed out again. With his scanner still attached, I pushed the pin crimping back in from behind and told him to try again. This time the scanner worked. That was on my Lincoln. Several years later same thing happened to the Saab. My best guess is the auto store guys are pushing the connector in at an angle, and the OBD II port on the cars are somewhat fragile and bending the barbs on the pin(s). 

 

Anyways, you can have one or more of these pins backing out and the scanner won't make contact with it. My advice is unscrew the OBD II port and let it hang so you can clearly see where the crimp meets the actual wires. Use that junction of where the rubber meets the metal as a visual guideline of how far a pin might be backed out. Backing out even a fraction can interrupt the code puller from reading anything. If it's a major power wire, the code puller won't detect anything. If EVAP is it's own dedicated wire and backed out, it might be possible to still scan the rest of the system but hang up on EVAP. Takes about 5 minutes to rule out. If the entire pin backs out, inspect the barbs/spring clip to see if they are either broken, or just bent. If broken, maybe go to a yard and carefully try and back out a good pin, and solder the wire in. A hot glue gun might work too, but be 100% positive it's fully pressed in before committing. Wouldn't use crazy glue gel as the fumes might coat the pin rendering it useless or worse prevent a scanner from attaching again.

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