98 Subaru Legacy P0440

[sciphi]

I swear I hate my mom's 98 Subaru Legacy. This time it's throwing a P0440, or plain old "EVAP system" fault code. I've heard the fuel filler necks like to go, and can cause this code. Where else should I check? Thanks!

 

[Marukai]

go to www.nasioc.com it's the Subaru Impreza Owners Club. It's the largest Subaru forum out there. It discusses all Subaru's not just the Impreza. Most of the Subaru's share the same engine displacement. Hope this helps. That forum has loads of information about the mechanical aspects.

 

[sicko]

HAHAHA, sorry but your post reminded me of the '99 Subaru I had for over 9 years. Its check engine light was on more than it was off, and every time it was the loose gas cap code. In all that time I only had the check engine light turn itself off once, and every time I filled up I made sure to get the three clicks from the gas cap that Subaru says to get. It's a common fault of Subarus around that time. I would periodically reset it and it would be fine for a few months, then it'd come back again, I'd pull the code and it would be the same gas cap code again.

Like I said it was on more than it was off and I just learned to live with it. Now if the light starts to blink, that's when there's something mechanically wrong and you need to pull over right away. I had that happen to me once (spark plug wire went bad causing misfires), and I didn't need a blinking light to tell me something was wrong b/c the whole car would surge and shake

 

[meep]

loose hoses can cause this. I took my 97 in for this a few times new. They threatened that they'd start charging me, b/c the first time it WAS the gas cap. third time, I insisted 3+ clicks, they retightened hose clamps, and I never saw another CEL until it ate a plug wire 90,000 miles later.

 

[sciphi]

I eyeballed the fuel filler neck. It's very rusty. The little hoses back there are also rusted to heck. We can try a gas cap, as we have a spare laying around. At my mom's insistence, I reset the code, and we're seeing if it's a fluke. My gut says it's not.

I'm not messing with the evaporative emissions or fuel filler neck if the gas cap doesn't solve things. It's too rusty for a shadetree DIY'er like me to tackle without wrecking something else in the process.