98 Corolla With Evap Issues

I'm fortunate not to have to deal with any emissions testing in this part of VA. If I'm not harming the vehicle (or the mileage much), then I'll hold off a little bit to fix this.

Thanks for your quick response!

another common problem here is the gas cap. if it isnt tight, or has been replaced with the wrong one, it will set these codes. just food for thought.

driving the car with evap codes wont hurt anything. just wont pass emissions.

aaron

oh, btw, p0441 is a minor leak, p0446 is a major leak.

I've just bought a used 98 corolla (5 speed, no frills except AC and am/fm/cassette/cd) with 145723 miles on Jan 18th. This car was a 1 owner car, bought from the dealership, maintained at the dealership, and they had all the service records. The car was extremely clean, and runs really good. The longer I own it, the more I love it. I'm not a small person so it is a bit cramped in the drivers seat, but not uncomfortably so.

The day after I bought it, it had a serious misfire on cylinder 4 due to the dealership washing the engine and getting water in the plug wells. I pulled the codes and identified the problem, and replaced the plugs and wires. I was careful to get rid of the water before pulling the plugs. One of the codes was P0441, and I hoped it wouldn't come back after I cleared the codes. The other code was P0304, misfire on cylinder 4, of course.

Anyway, a week and 2 fillups later, my MPG is averaging 32.5, and now the CEL has come back on. I pulled the codes and have P0441 and P0446. The freeze frame data shows the engine was at 1503 RPM, 34.1% load, 190 degrees F, at a speed of 7MPH when P0441 was triggered again. Having an OBD II interface for a laptop is awesome!

I've read this forum quite a bit since I got the car, and I understand that the evap system probably needs to have the canister replaced, and so forth. The problem is I just bought this car, and this isn't covered by the warranty. I won't be able to afford to fix this for another month at least. So my question is, what harm am I doing the vehicle operating it with a bad evap system?

My daily commute is 55 miles each way, 5 days a week. Will putting 2200 miles on this problem make it worse?

And yes, I no longer top off the tank after it clicks off on this vehicle. I admit I did that right after I got it and before reading this forum. I spoke with my salesperson (who I went to high school with), and he admits he did the same thing. So it happened at least twice.

Thanks for your advice,

jim

Do you live in a state with lemon laws? In Massachusetts, if a dealer ever pulled that kind of idiotic blunder, the dealership would have to fix the problem, or else the state would force them to renege the contract and refund your money. Personally if a dealer ever pulled a little stunt on me on like that, I would have forced them to fix it. By fixing it yourself, you possibly taint any evidence to be presented to the Registry of Motor Vehicles that they sold you a lemon car. If future problems come up related to this, you might not be able to force the dealer to accept responsibility for that too.

Remember, dealers are crooks. They are like lawyers and will use any excuse to absolve themselves of responsibility.

Do you live in a state with lemon laws? In Massachusetts, if a dealer ever pulled that kind of idiotic blunder, the dealership would have to fix the problem, or else the state would force them to renege the contract and refund your money. Personally if a dealer ever pulled a little stunt on me on like that, I would have forced them to fix it. By fixing it yourself, you possibly taint any evidence to be presented to the Registry of Motor Vehicles that they sold you a lemon car. If future problems come up related to this, you might not be able to force the dealer to accept responsibility for that too.

Remember, dealers are crooks. They are like lawyers and will use any excuse to absolve themselves of responsibility.

I understand where you are coming from. My father went thru the whole lemon situation in 1987/1988 with a 1987 chevy astro, and it was a big ordeal.

I live in Virginia, and bought the car in Maryland. This is a used car (obviously). The warranty was for 3 months or 3000 miles, and only covers the powertrain. Specifically, the internals of the engine and transmission. I got clarification on this *before* I signed the papers.

The accessories and consumables are not covered. The evap system is considered an accessory, and the clutch and brakes and plugs and wires are considered consumables.

I was aware of all of this before the purchase.

There's no way to prove the dealership washed the engine. But we all know that's what happened. There was water in the plug well, but not a lot of it. It would be easy to argue that it was from some other cause. My initial concern was that perhaps it might be coolant, but it didn't smell like it. One could argue that it was condensation from a heat/cool cycle. So while I'm sure that the water is from a pressure wash, nothing can be proven.

I do still have the old plugs and wires. The plugs were all in need of a change anyway. The electrodes were quite worn.

The sales person is an old friend of mine from middle/high school. He's fairly new at this dealership, and doesn't make a lot of sales. He's often bored, and looks for extra work to do. He's the one that had the engine washed for me. I've shown him exactly what the results of this were, and he's learned his lesson.

Believe it or not, I'm still very happy with my purchase. The evap issue will be fixed sometime this spring. The plugs and wires are something I always change when buying a car anyway, unless it is brand new. The engine is solid, the clutch is strong, the transmission is strong. The interior is immaculate, the exterior has only minor wear and tear. The tires are at about 90% tread left.

When I test drove the car, the roads were wet, and I didn't do any of my usual stunts. So, I really thought I was buying an anemic little car that would be reliable transportation for my commute but not much fun otherwise. When I drove it home, the roads were dry, and I got to really open her up. I quickly fell in love with the responsiveness.

My daily commute is enjoyable. With my dakota, I'd end up tired and worn out at the end of each way, with the corolla, I'm still as fresh as I was when I left.

I just wish I wasn't putting so many miles on my nicest vehicle.

Thanks for everyone's concern.

jim

You should be able to continue to drive the car for another month, until you can afford to get it fixed.

Well, a combination of laziness and not wanting to commit so much money to fix this problem led me to drive for the past almost 5000 miles without taking care of this. Last weekend, anticipating my upcoming inspection, I cleared my codes. In the last 8 days, it has not recurred.

Now, I find it difficult to believe that the problem magically fixed itself. So I'm wondering why it hasn't re-tripped the codes. When it first was happening, it would re-trip the codes within 2 to 3 days.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm all for not having to spend money on this.

Oh, and my inspection passed beautifully in spite of the leaky exhaust yesterday. I was very careful about not revving or putting much load on the engine where the inspection guy would hear it. The leak is obvious if you step on it, but easy to ignore at idle. I think it is the downpipe, and now I have 12 months to get it taken care of.

So... any ideas why the evap problem seems to have evaporated?

thanks,

jim

So... any ideas why the evap problem seems to have evaporated?

Because its an evaporative switch its supposed to evaporate

Was the gas cap tightened all the way? P0441 and P0446 can be triggered by a "Large Evap leak"

I'd just forget about it unless it returns... Then you are probably looking at replacing the charcoal vapor canister...

Boy this seems to be the most persistent problems with these corrollas.

THere should be a sticky thread with information about this problem.

Here is my thread of dealing with this problem:

https://www.corolland.com/forums/index.php?...=17838&st=0

I've just bought a used 98 corolla (5 speed, no frills except AC and am/fm/cassette/cd) with 145723 miles on Jan 18th. This car was a 1 owner car, bought from the dealership, maintained at the dealership, and they had all the service records. The car was extremely clean, and runs really good. The longer I own it, the more I love it. I'm not a small person so it is a bit cramped in the drivers seat, but not uncomfortably so.

 

I've read this forum quite a bit since I got the car, and I understand that the evap system probably needs to have the canister replaced, and so forth. The problem is I just bought this car, and this isn't covered by the warranty. I won't be able to afford to fix this for another month at least. So my question is, what harm am I doing the vehicle operating it with a bad evap system?

jim

Check out this site: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/ca...caa/toyota.html. Your car may be covered under the extended warranty. Better hurry though; you're close to the 150,000 mile cutoff.

I've just bought a used 98 corolla (5 speed, no frills except AC and am/fm/cassette/cd) with 145723 miles on Jan 18th. This car was a 1 owner car, bought from the dealership, maintained at the dealership, and they had all the service records. The car was extremely clean, and runs really good. The longer I own it, the more I love it. I'm not a small person so it is a bit cramped in the drivers seat, but not uncomfortably so.

 

I've read this forum quite a bit since I got the car, and I understand that the evap system probably needs to have the canister replaced, and so forth. The problem is I just bought this car, and this isn't covered by the warranty. I won't be able to afford to fix this for another month at least. So my question is, what harm am I doing the vehicle operating it with a bad evap system?

jim

Check out this site: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/ca...caa/toyota.html. Your car may be covered under the extended warranty. Better hurry though; you're close to the 150,000 mile cutoff.

My '99 Prizm CEL was for codes P0441 and P0446. Do you know if this extended warranty also covers Prizms or just Corollas?

(BTW, I'm at work and can't access the government site, that's why I'm posting).

They specifically only mention the 1998 model year Corolla with a build date of 2/12/1998 - no mention of a Prism fix. You probably have to contact a GM dealer to find out if something similar is available to you.

EVAP codes can be a major PITA - sometimes they come back time and time again - sometimes they will go away for years. I still get them from time to time - usually close to emissions testing every other year - good luck trying to get it tracked down.

Thank for the advise fishexpo101. I also have a 1999 prizm (or prism for seach engine friendliness) with the same CEL codes p0441 and po446. I will contact GM and see what they say. Right my 99 prizm is a little under 99K miles so its in my best interest to find it I can get any free warranty fixes for my car before it hits the old age of a 100K. Did anyone else heard anything from GM about prizms and warranties?

chris

UPDATE

http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/de...aa/toyotacd.pdf

I did find this link on the EPA website that at least mentions two 1998 PRIZM's (along with corolla's) getting the extended warranty for EVAP issues. Too bad no for 1999 =(