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Well, the gremlins are starting to appear on this new-to-me-10-yr-old car.
Got an orange "tighten fuel cap" warning on the dash (same sort of warning light for "low fuel"). Tried doing the obvious (tightening the fuel cap), but the light stays on.
Filled up the car around 12:30 pm today. No warning light. Took it to the shop to have some new tires mounted from 2:00-3:30 pm. No warning light. Picked up some groceries on the way home. No warning light. As I pulled up to and parked in front of my house a couple of hours ago (4:00 pm), the light came on and has remained on since. (Last checked at 6:15 pm.)
Not very handy with much of anything, but am wondering what simple things I might be able to do to either 1) troubleshoot this or 2) resolve the issue myself ....
Anyway, any thoughts or advice for a non-wrenching car-lover would be most welcome and greatly appreciated.
purge valve canister gone bad, its very common issue with 07-08 TL. The part itself is $100 and cost 15 mins of DIY, I already replace once in my TL-S however the my base one start do the same thing too.
purge valve canister gone bad, its very common issue with 07-08 TL. The part itself is $100 and cost 15 mins of DIY, I already replace once in my TL-S however the my base one start do the same thing too.
Many thanks, truonghthe. For others who might be encountering a similar problem, I found and have posted a couple of DIY vids on youtube (see below). Replacing the EVAP purge valve canister/solenoid looks like a fairly straight-forward job that even I can tackle.
As it turns out, started my car this morning and the "tighten fuel cap" warning did not appear. Still, I'm guessing that the purge valve canister/solenoid is starting to (gradually?) fail (although it could also be some other issue like a blocked hose or a faulty connector), so it's probably just a matter of time before I have to replace it. So, the diagnosis/advice is much appreciated. Thx again!
DIY vid on how to replace purge valve solenoid on 04-08 Acura TL:
So, the "Tighten Fuel Cap" warning light went out after a day (on 3/31/17) and then stayed off until this afternoon, when it came back on. Realized that I had the car in low gear and shifted it back to normal Drive, whereupon the warning light turned off again.
I'm still anticipating having to replace the purge valve solenoid at some point in the near future, but curious about why being in low gear might trigger the warning light? Also, any harmful effects of waiting for the warning light to light up more consistently before replacing the purge valve solenoid (besides more polluted emissions)?
edit- realize that this thread should probably be under the "Problems and Fixes" section, so feel free to move, mods
Last edited by nanxun; 04-10-2017 at 11:23 PM.
Reason: request to move thread to appropriate section
Thx for the link and the suggestion, thoiboi. Seems fairly straight-forward, so I'm planning on ordering the part and installing it (or at least trying to install it) myself. We'll see how that goes....
Just be careful removing the nuts/bolts or whatever they are. One is in a tight spot and I accidentally dropped mine in the engine bay. Also take your time undoing the vacuum hoses, they can easily tear after all the heat cycles they've been through.
Just be careful removing the nuts/bolts or whatever they are. One is in a tight spot and I accidentally dropped mine in the engine bay. Also take your time undoing the vacuum hoses, they can easily tear after all the heat cycles they've been through.
Thx, guys. I'm not very handy with a wrench but am willing to give it a go. Probably will be taking it to my mechanic for the tranny pressure switches, though.
OK, finally got the bad EVAP purge valve canister swapped out with a refurbished one (for a Honda Odyssey) purchased on eBay for about $44.00 (thx WDPanda for the tip!).
The refurb part from eBay said "Denso JAPAN" on it, yet I do wonder about its authenticity simply because it was sent to me by one Lu Xu from Flushing, NY....
At any rate, it only took me 90 min. to install (after losing the bottom nut and washer in the engine bay)--3 times the amount of time it should have. But as other have attested, it's an easy enough and straight-forward job that even a fool and non-wrenching person like me can get done (eventually)....
So far, so good. No "Tighten Fuel Cap" warning since installation. Will update if any problems arise.
Yup, you see why I hesitate to take on more challenging wrench-jobs?? Most of that (I'd say an good hour) was spent trying to figure out how to get better access to the lower/bottom nut.
Just wanted to add that I recently followed advice on this forum to buy this $44 part from eBay, made sure it is a Denso part from Japan, after 30 mins of diy, the light have NOT returned. FYI, I didn't have a CEL with my scenario. So thank you!!!!
I got that exact one from ebay as well, and just installed it yesterday before dinner... took about 15 mins. So far so good, though I wasn't regularly getting the tighten fuel cap warning. I saw that it was in the messages from before I bought the car, and it turned on and off briefly a couple times in the last couple weeks (I checked the fuel cap, and it was tight). Oddly, the one I pulled (08 Type S) was Denso Japan as well (not Mexico).
Just be careful removing the nuts/bolts or whatever they are. One is in a tight spot and I accidentally dropped mine in the engine bay. Also take your time undoing the vacuum hoses, they can easily tear after all the heat cycles they've been through.
Following your advice I took all the necessary care i used a magnet to hold it for the last few turns but when i removed the washer the magnet dropped it. I should have put a rag or a newpaper under the bolt to collect it.
I put an other washer as you should not tighten a bolt directly on plastic if you want to tighten it securely. I cleaned mine with carburator cleaner. Cleaner came out as clean as new but i may have help. No message yet, i will see if it comes back to often i will change it for a Denso made in Japan. Mine was marked Mexico, still not bad for a 235K km(146 000 miles) car who went thru many canadian winters and also Florida winter.
Following your advice I took all the necessary care i used a magnet to hold it for the last few turns but when i removed the washer the magnet dropped it. I should have put a rag or a newpaper under the bolt to collect it.
I put an other washer as you should not tighten a bolt directly on plastic if you want to tighten it securely. I cleaned mine with carburator cleaner. Cleaner came out as clean as new but i may have help. No message yet, i will see if it comes back to often i will change it for a Denso made in Japan. Mine was marked Mexico, still not bad for a 235K km(146 000 miles) car who went thru many canadian winters and also Florida winter.
Hi. How does the part hold up so far? Can you send me a link to the item you purchased? There are a few sellers on ebay that sell it so idk who sells pcv that works
Hi. How does the part hold up so far? Can you send me a link to the item you purchased? There are a few sellers on ebay that sell it so idk who sells pcv that works
Mine was coming from a junk yard. I ckecked it out by applying 12 volts to it before installing it and blowing thru it. Without voltage it is closed and air does not go thru, when you apply a voltage the solenoid opens the valve and air goes thru it. I still get the message once in a while specially if i have to run very slow for a long time. I also bought a gas cap at the junk yard and i will try it it soon.
03-30-2017, 05:31 PM
2007 Acura TL: "Tighten Fuel Cap" warning light
