'02 WRX code P0442: Small Evap Leak. Advice Requested

So I went through the system looking for cracked hoses etc. None found. Replaced gas cap- no dice. Reset several times hoping it would just go away- no. Ready to take it to a shop, only I don't "have" a shop.

Question is: is this something worth taking to the dealer, or should I look for an independent shop? I'm thinking the hourly rate at the dealer might be double the indy shop, but they might fix it twice as fast given their familiarity with the product. And then gouge me on parts.

I'm in Arlington VA (DC area) if that helps, and I'm of moderate means, so the beltway tax hurts when I consider taking it to someone else.

Small evap leaks can be the devils work to find. You need somebody equipped, at least, with a smoke tester, and hopefully a scan tool that will allow bidirectional control of the solenoids, or that can force an inbay evap test. Any pattern failures listed on the Subie boards?

The onboard test will generally go something like this: Fuel tank neither right full or close to empty, driving at freeway type speeds, close the vent solenoid, open the purge solenoid for a period of time, then close it and watch the tank pressure to see how quickly the level of vacuum in the tank decays.

Generic evap advice: I'd look close at the vent tubes that run up alongside the filler neck for rust- That's a pretty typical Japanese failure. Make sure the vent solenoid isn't plugged with dust, and the wire connector hasn't been beaten up. See if the purge valve holds vacuum, Most of the time, you can pull the hose from the tank off it and put your finger over the hole. At idle, it shouldn't suck. If you do a ton of dirt driving, the canister itself can plug with dust. There's also a bundle of vent hoses on the top of the tank that can cause trouble.

My 01 RS is getting the small and very small leak errors lately. Of course I just blew a E36 M3load of $ to replace the gas tank, filler, lines, etc. Probably something in there but really not interested in shop time again anytime soon, that took forever.

I replaced my gas cap, thought it was good but finally got another one. Maybe I'll futz with it again this summer.

The hose to the evap canister goes bad or gets knocked off all the time.

The forest of little vac hoses to the purge solenoid go bad all the time too. The short ones under the solenoid seem to be particularly bad about getting hard and cracking.

But....If you knew anyone with Rom Raider that code wouldnt be a problem...

Check the wiring - on almost every GD Impreza I've seen, this code means that the wiring harness that runs to the rear bumper has gotten stuffed full of crud and salt and corroded.

The purge solenoid's plastic fittings get weakened from turbo motor heat as well, so give them a little wiggle to make sure they haven't broken off.

I'm still trying to track down a large leak code on my 03 Impreza wagon, but so far replacing the charcoal canister with huge holes in it hasn't worked.

If you connect the test connector (the green gubbin under the dash that you usually connect to flash a map), you can usually hear it cycle all of the responsible solenoids during the evap self test portion when the key is turned to ON. If something is obviously not making noise, that might be the cause. FreeSSM has an evap test but I've never tried it.

Streetwise: Thanks for the tips- I'll check into those. I think I've gone through it all, but I don't have a very good schematic that shows relative locations on the car for all the solenoids/switches/rubber hoses.

Ojala: I checked those hoses up under the alternator, and they seem fine, but part of me thinks it might be best to just change out all the rubber on this system, if I knew what that entailed. I do have a tactrix 2.0, and tried to eliminate the code using learning view, but when I try to write to ECU, it fails halfway into it. Every time. Tips?

SSSwitch: I checked under the canister- there was one electrical connecter I couldn't get apart. Wonder if it is corroded together (despite the car being 100% rust free). I'll look into free ssm.

Thank you all. Big part of me would just like to E36 M3can the CEL by disabling it, because I think this is a bullE36 M3 code- car runs fine, and I'm certain is not polluting due to this "minor evap leak". Don't know if I could sell it in VA with the CEL (can the inspection stations tell if it is disabled?), which I'm considering over the next year ('95 M3 or '02 WRX stays, don't know what new car will be).

Inspectors can't tell that the monitors have been "force passed".

Not something you can do from learning view. Do you know how to use rom raider and some of the other tools?

A great independent Subaru shop (and GRM supporter) near you is Mach V performance, give Dan a call and tell him Tom from GRM sent you. They do maintenance as well as modification, and last time I was there, they were unscrewing a dealer screwup: It's bad to leave bolts in the turbo inlet, right?

http://www.machv.com

Thanks for the heads up- I didn't know they were a repair shop too. I'm going to take a gander at RomRaider and see what I can come up with.

I had the same code on my 9-2x Aero (Saab WRX clone)- turned out to be a cracked vacuum hose - mine was hidden under the interfooler (purge solenoid IIRC)

I'm in Alexandria, Va BTW

Yeah, that's the E36 M3ter with this thing. Vacuum lines everywhere. I'll take a look- thanks.

Oh- and nice. Glad to know there are other sufferers of the DC grind. Love living here, but sometimes it's much.

+1 for Mach V, great people!

Ok, I'll go to MachV if it becomes "large evap leak". I figured out the ecuflash software and just disabled the "small evap leak" CEL code. Unless anyone has some compelling reason to do otherwise, I'm going to just leave it that way. Sort of the like Marine C-130 pilot emergency procedures- Air Force has 100 or so, Coast Guard has similar numbers. Marines have 1: wait until it catches on fire, then deal with it.

In reply to Teh E36 M3:

I just smoke tested my car for a small evap leak and smoke poured out of the bad fuel cap. I can't imagine what a large leak would be.