I have a 2009 CEL light on. I went to the AutoZone and got code P0442 " Evap leak small". They told me that it was the gas cap (which I replaced) and the light is still on. The car has aprox 48K miles. Out of warrantee and that’s the main reason why I still don’t want to take it to the MINI Dealer to get a full diagnostic since they told me they want to charge me $192.00 just to tell me what’s wrong… It is a steady light, I have attempted to reset it by disconnecting battery and still comes on. I am wondering what would be the easy fixes that I can try before I start spending the big money on it. I would appreciate any comments or any suggestions. Thanks.
Even if the problem was resolved by the new gas cap, you must go through several drive cycles in order for the CEL to turn itself off. Give it another day or so before you conclude that it wasn’t fixed.
A small EVAP leak could be the gas cap but not necessarily.
If the light stays on with the same code, then more that likely there’s a small leak somewhere else in the EVAP system. And the quickest way to find leaks in the EVAP sytem is with a smoke machine.
Tester
This “failure” does not effect the operation of the car in any way, so it can be placed on the deferred list of things to do…You will need to resolve the problem before your next emissions test however…
Small leaks are rarely the gas cap. 192.00 is a little pricey for diagnosis, but you need more than a code read for a proper diagnosis. Smoke testing and having the ability to properly test the evap system is the only way to replace the failed component and not blindly guess at what may have failed. Spending money on a good diagnosis is money well spent. You dont have to go to a dealer look for a indepenant shop that has the tools to diagnose evap systems.