The Ultimate Cry Baby.. The Check Engine light.

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The Ultimate Cry Baby.. The Check Engine light.
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Nothing is worse than heading out to the cottage
on a Friday afternoon with the car packed full of
kids and Nintendos than seeing that dreaded
check engine light. Well, there is the always fun
I have to go pee my daughters declare just as
we enter the highway but thats another subject
all together.When this light comes on it means
that your vehicles on board computer has detected
a problem.   The most common fault codes deal
with your gas cap.
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You see, all cars newer than 1996 have an EVAP
system. The Evaporative Emission Control (EVAP)
is a re-circulatory system.  The gasoline in the
fuel tank splashes around and creates vapour that
on cars made before 1996 was just vented to the
atmosphere.  Fortunately, we no longer vent this
vapour and it is now stored and recirculated
within the vehicles EVAP system.I wont bore you
with the details how this works but briefly there
are several sensors, solenoids (switches) and
storage canisters that are needed to make this
EVAP system work.
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Once you are under way, (typically while cruising
on the highway) your vehicles on board computer
starts a few tests to see if all these components
are working properly.   It seals up the system
and tries to detect any leaks.  Here is where the
problems can potentially start.  If you have
neglected to fully tighten the vehicles gas cap
after the last fill up then this test will fail
due to the gas cap being loose/leaking.  The
computer will initiate the test a couple more
times and if it continues to fail it will turn
your check engine light on.
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Now the check engine light being on does not mean
for sure that it is a loose gas cap, but only one
possibility. (albeit a very common one)  The best
solution is prevention, always give that cap an
extra 3 clicks when at the fuel
pump.http//allaboutimports.com/