Well... it is not the gas cap not being tight enough I am very sure. It has come on for 6 or 7 times already. Took to dealer 1st time, the guy blame me for over filling the gas tank. (i was like wtf... did I do that??) Took to another dealer 2nd time, service guy said it was some problem with the evaporate system. They reset the light, but it came back on right after I pick up the car ROFL. Now, my car is resting in dealership again. This time, the lady is trying to blame that on my ground-wire system! OMG!!! I told that lady it started to come on before I put the ground-wire system on AND it is the evaporating system error geez....

Well... anyone can give me some input? I noticed the engine light only comes on when I leave the car under the sun for like 1 - 2 hours. Car gets hot and engine light come on.... Driving is ok tho, it never come on when I am driving. Only if I leave it at some opening and the sun is strong; then engine light will come on as soon as I start the car.

My poor baby still with the dealer now... I hope it get fixed before my wheels arrive. (They will arrive in about 3 weeks WOOT!)

 

I'm assuming that when you leave your car in the sun the engine is not running.
Does the light come on immediately after you start the engine or later ?

You can get an OBD II scanner (AutoZone can also do it for you) and find out what the code is. Then you'll know what the problem really is and you'll have a better argument for your dealer.

 

yup, the engine light comes on immediately when I start the car.

Dealer already told me the trouble code is EVAP system, which stands for evaporating system. I am thinking that may be my gas cap is defective....

 

lol dealer just phoned me saying they don't know whatz wrong with my car.
The lady is still trying to blame the grounding system. /shrug

Now, they are going to try to replace the "canister" (I don't know what that is. It is how it sounds when she talked to me on the phone). Anyone know, or can guess what that is?

 

Have you drilled any holes in the interior/trunk floor? More than once I've seen people run drill point screws through the floor and into the top of the fuel tank, when they're mounting an amp/sub/changer/alarm/lojack/ground etc. Watch out for some of these "installers" who don't bother to look where they are driving screws into.

 

no... I did not do any drilling on the car....

 

AKA evap canister.... let me begin this from the beginning back in 1999, the federal govt wanted OBDII evap leak eliminated to help the environment. There limit of a leak is .004" but with Honda's "overachieving" values, they made it to .002" which is even thinner than a single strand of hair to trip the check engine light. That's why when a car comes in everyone assumes it's a gas cap cause that's the most likely cause. There's a function test that they can be perform by honda system that can test regular operation of the car.

Now let's get back to the present... the evap canister is part of the fuel system that keeps the vapor from escaping from the car. Basically it turns the vapor back to regular fuel when it shuts off that whay the fuel is not spent until the car is turn back on. This is all intertwined with the fuel system. So maybe that'll fix your problem. The evap problem takes a lot of time to diag. Hope I shed some light for ya.

 

Good info nyc1badmofo. I guess it makes sense.
When the car sits in the sun the vapors build up. When the engine runs for a while, with the circulation and consumption of fuel things go back to normal.
That's my theory

 

If you overfill your gas tank, you can get gasoline into the evap canister. If you do get gasoline into the evap canister, this will happen all the time, well for a while anyway until the gasoline evaporates out of the can or something... =o)

 

The dealers' reply should be a warning to anyone making mods during the warranty - no matter how remote, some dealers will do anything to turn down a warranty claim if you moded the car in anyway.

 

The dealer should know the proper way to diagnose a repeat EVAP code is to use a smoke machine sometimes reffered to as a fog machine. It fills the evap system with a slightly pressureized nonflameable gas(lord knows what happens when you pressureize a flameable gas- BOOM) and you see (i) if it holds pressure and (ii) where is the smoke/fog coming out from if it is leaking.

Don't feel to bad about this, I see about 2-3 EVAP codes a day- 98% of them are a piece of cake to fix.

 

thank you guys!
Nice help I am getting here!

I have never over-fill my gas tank, so I don't think it is the problem.
They said they are going to replace the canister... hopefully it works....

I doubt they use a smoke machine to test the system. B/c the lady call me and told me they did not find voltage shortage anywhere and assuming the car should be ok. Geez... engine light come on and she tried to make me believe the car is ok.

 

btw, anyone know where is that canister thing located?

 

Underneath the car.. Its a black box..

 

ROFLMAO
EVAP Canister replaced.
Gas cap replaced.
result.... engine light still comes on with the same error code --- EVAP error!!!
:thinking:

 

I bet you next they will replace the ECU.. hehe..

 

That sucks, anyways, keep us updated SAZABI, I'm curious to know why that light was on and how the dealer'll approach the issue.

 

bingo!! This is what the mechanic said, but they need to phone the tech line 1st next week.

However, I think it is more related to mechanical failure rather than ECU failure.
1. It only happens under hot weather.
2. After the temperature gets low, light won't go off until I re-tighten the gas cap.

 

Dealer appoach is.

1. You did not tighten the gas cap.
2. You overfill the gas tank.
3. Must be your modification (ie ground wire)... give me a break, ground wire = EVAP error.
4. took off the mod they are blaming, light still come on. "OH, that is strange"
5. Sorry, we don't know, we call tech line, they don't know either. Let's try replacing something.
6. Still doesn't work... OMG, we call tech line again and may be we change the computer.

........ yup, already 2 months and my car still not fixed LOL! Already written a complaint letter to Acura Canada. bunch of stupid Americans. I believe it doesn't happen like this in Japan.

 

Lemon Law it!

 

don't know if we have that in Canada..... /shrug

 

Lemon laws apply only to problems that prevent normal operation of the vehicle. A light in the dash doesn't count. Don't waste your time trying that route. Get an experienced Acura tech to check out the vehicle and reformat the ECU if necessary.

 

Interesting! My 02 MDX is having the same problem with the engine light, they have replaced the gas cap and the light came back on 2 days later. Now my X is sitting at the dealership and got a TSX loaner (BTW, nothing compare to the 04 TL). Anyways, I will let u know if they found anything....

 

thx in advance. My car will go to acura again on Tuesday. this time, the rep said it will sit there until they fix it...

 

OK, my dealership just called and they have ordered a new canister and a new bypass solenoid....should have it done by the end of the day tomorrow, so you might want to mention the bypass solenoid to them. I will post an update tomorrow. GOOD LUCK!

 

i dont know if this has anything to do with it....... but since my second oil change i have about 9500miles on her already ..... everytime i start the car now i notice the check engine light blink for about 30secs or soand then finally goes away. I dont know if its just me but i dont ever remember seeing that before, anyway the car seems to be running fine no problems !

 

err.... it is normal

 

I think what you're seeing is the Maintainence Required light flashing, not the Check Engine light. It begins to flash aroung 9500miles, and comes on solid at 10K. See owners manual to reset.

 

OK, my dealership just called and he said that might have narrowed the problem to the gas tank. They have ordered a new gas tank and should have it replaced by the end of day tomorrow. Will keep you updated!

 

btw, you have the same error code right? EVAP error?
yeah... gas tank is part of the system.. but how can that be defective? isn't that just a tank?

 

do you always drive till your tank is totally empty?

 

No.... I usually fill it up when light comes on or 1/2 tank or 1/4 tank...
so, at least 15L in the tank....

 

I usually fill the tank all the way up, but my dealer told me that the gas tank is not holding pressure. I don't really care what they do, they can replace the whole evap. system for all I care as long as they provide me with a loaner....

 

BTW, yes, I do have the same EVAP Error code.

 

I don't know how the tank is not holding pressure yet there's no gas getting out. I'd think the leak must be somewhere else - porbably in some hose - maybe filler neck. Been taking out your frustrations on the filler neck hole?

 

Oh yes, its barely big enough!

 

well.... I will leave the car to dealer on Tuesday.
Let's see who fix the problem 1st hee hee.......

 

My dealer replaced the fuel tank and now they said it might be a rubber ring that goes near the gas filler cap....Will see what happens today, it's been over a week at the dealer now!

 

Not exactly...Since you are from Boston too, here is the MA law:
"The Massachusetts Lemon Law protects consumers who have serious defects in their new cars. The law defines a lemon as a new or leased motor vehicle that has a defect which substantially impairs the use, market value, or safety of the vehicle, and which has not been repaired after a reasonable number of attempts."

I'd say a recurrent CEL substantially impairs market value of the car; would you buy a car with a CEL?

CEL's are a colossal PITA, my fiancee's A4 seems to have its on constantly. I'd really push for a fix, or dump the car. We've had her car for over 2 years, and still no permanent fix, luckily she enjoys the car otherwise. And AWD + snows makes for fun winter driving!

/bill

 

It's now Thursday and there's nothing to report on....They have now replaced the gas cap, canister, bypass valve, gas tank (YES GAS TANK)! and a rubber seal around the gas cap.. Still couldn't figure what the hack is going on, they are going to do a smoke test and hopefully will find out what the problem is. I told them just to swap out my MDX with a 04 TL! LOL.... My MDX has been in the shop for 2 wks now!