This morning on my way to work the check engine light came on in the Jetta.

The car seemed to operate normally, so after i got to work i took one of our CarChip OBDII loggers, plugged it into the OBDII port and went for a short drive.

When i read out the trouble code it said:

P0455 Evaporative Emission (EVAP) System Leak Detected (large leak)


I goggled the code and found a post on a bbs where someone mentioned:
"The most likely cause is a loose or poorly fitting gas cap."

Which rang a bell as my GF told me this morning she had filled up the car last night before coming home.

So i walk out to the car and check on the gas-cap, and sure enough, it wasn't all the way on!

Easy fix.



Now, how do i clear a DTC code?
Andy

Found it.

Looks like our CarChip has the option of clearing all DTC codes ...
Andy

Sounds familiar. Nissan wanted 1K to change a canister and solenoid to clear the light. Car was only 4 years old with ~60k on it. Ex wife was too limp wristed to tighten the cap until it ratcheted.

That's great Andy!
I have a cheap scanner and I used it a lot. It paid for itself the first time I used it. Most places were charging an hours labor just to read the code.
I love it when these computer things actually help us the way they are supposed to.

Yep I own a good scanner, just to check before I take cars to mechanics

I can work on my 914, this new stuff is too complex (plus no time with work)

Cool deal! I had an OBD 2 unit that help me to figure spark plug wire #6 was junk on my wifes car. That would have been a pain to figure out without my new $60 tool.

Can a CarChip OBDII detect a hidden cd changer?

My wife lost the gas cap from her Honda Civic and I bouoght one at my local FLAPS which apparently did not seal properly and still ended up producing a code.

Yup, my wife once paid a $90 diagnostic bill to find out the gas cap wasn't tightened on her Nissan. This was before she married a car guy.

Now, (like me) she won't even consider buying a car unless it comes with an good online support group... such as 914world

-DB

See! Your FLAPS isn't just NOT for 914s.

The Cap'n, aka the ANTIFLAPS

SEVEN auto parts stores in town and NOT ONE had a timing chain set for a 460 Ford.

My OBD 2 scanner is a great tool. Have you seen the VAG-COM by Ross- Tech http://www.ross-tech.com/ ?
The wife has a Jetta and the sun roof drain started to leak, which required removal of the head liner to fix, I moved the car with the passenger seat removed and the air bag light came on. It did not go out after I reinstalled the seat nor would my OBD 2 clear it. I found a local guy who rents his VAG-COM and I was able to clear the light. But the VAG-COM can also do much more; I wanted to buy it but the price is a bit high for a one time use..

http://www.diydiagnostics.com/

I have one which does OBD-II and another which is specifically VW/Audi.

These are cheap and easy to use. $50 is a good price. I use mine frequently and my friends all know I have it so it helps them out too

po 455 is a real common OBDII code we dealt with about every day it seems when i dealt with the tracy p.d. fleet, they seemed to not be able to put the cap back on. it's stored as temparary and will elf cancle after X many start ups.

if it keeps occuring it's likely a bad cap

mike

There was a factory recall for this not too long ago. I still have to take my Jetta in, but the sun roof repair should be for free ...

Andy

My 14 year old mentality finds humor in VAG-COM

My dad's got all that good obdII scanner stuff at his shop back in Buffalo. Clearing a code was as simple as disconnecting the battery. - back in the 90's it was, anyway.

That is no so bad, something like that you should almost expect to happen. On the other hand, E36 BMW's have an issue where overweight people in the passenger seat can trigger the airbag light. Its sort of funny until you realize how much shops charge to reset it. It was much cheaper for me just to get a carsoft interface off of ebay and reset it myself with my laptop.

I keep a peak tool in my glove box as well for the random check engine codes that might pop up when i am out and about.

Cap'n.. How many of the parts monkeys at FLAPS even know what a 460 Ford is? All they know is the current crop of 4 bangers.


I miss the ground pounder V-8 engines from high school.

i like it when i go in to the flaps and ask for disc brake pads for my 1975 jeep cj5....
it goes some thing like this....

what make?

-jeep

what year?

1975

what model?

cj5

what engine?

360
?
?
?
i can't find a cj5 with a 360.....

it's the same as a 304

oh..... i can't find disc pads for it... [or they run off and get shoes for drum brakes]...

well those shoes won't fit on my DISCBRAKE CALIPERS

you don't have disc brakes.

yes i do.

our computer shows that you have drums brakes.

would you now like the bendix part number for the brake pads i want?

[very blank look on face] what good would that do me?

ok how about i tell you i have a 1978 ford truck 302 auto tranny and i want the disc brake pads for that?

ok.... i can get you those by the day after tomorrow.




then i go to napa and give the old parts guy the part number and he goes and picks it off the shelf and bs's with me for half an hour about the mods done to my jeep, and knows the difference between the jeep and scout dana 300 transfer caes.

Disconnecting the battery generally does the trick for clearing the codes.
But some learned values for the engine and trans will be cleared too. So it may behave differently after the battery pull until it learns the pattern again.

Beware some current generation vehicles have Permanent DTC that can only be cleared after a x number of confirmed drive cycles.