pulloff Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 My 99 Outback's NY State inspection is due by the end of this month and . . . I hit a deer a week and a half ago and took out the hood, bug deflector, grill, left headlight assembly, lens, and bent some of the brackets the support the radiator, headlights, and grill. The hood bracket and headlight/grill bracket assembly pushed the center of the radiator back about 3 inches and gave the radiator a nice dish but no leaks. Bumper, and fenders didn’t even get a scratch. I bought a headlight and lens at the local JY and straightened all the brackets and thought I was all set for the inspection (I'm still hunting for a dark blue hood if anyone has a lead on one close to Western NY) . . . then last night on my way home from work my Outback threw on the dreaded CEL. Code PO440 – EVAP Emission Control System Malfunction. It's a 99 Outback with 222k, with the last 40k of those on a transplanted 2.2. This is my first issue since the transplant. I'm going to check all my vacuum lines first and make sure the deer hit didn't give me any other surprises but other than that I don't know where/waht to check. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Hello. P0440 could be anything that is letting pressure out the fuel system, such as faulty/loose gas cap, etc. In our salt laden winters (rural WNY here too!) sometimes the fuel filler pipe rusts out and causes this problem. For parts, you might check out those big salvage yards over on William St. I've never gone in but they might have something. Also Skyway auto parts might have something, I think they're near that Tifft preserve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 My 99 Outback's NY State inspection is due by the end of this month and . . . I hit a deer a week and a half ago and took out the hood, bug deflector, grill, left headlight assembly, lens, and bent some of the brackets the support the radiator, headlights, and grill. The hood bracket and headlight/grill bracket assembly pushed the center of the radiator back about 3 inches and gave the radiator a nice dish but no leaks. Bumper, and fenders didn’t even get a scratch. I bought a headlight and lens at the local JY and straightened all the brackets and thought I was all set for the inspection (I'm still hunting for a dark blue hood if anyone has a lead on one close to Western NY) . . . then last night on my way home from work my Outback threw on the dreaded CEL. Code PO440 – EVAP Emission Control System Malfunction. It's a 99 Outback with 222k, with the last 40k of those on a transplanted 2.2. This is my first issue since the transplant. I'm going to check all my vacuum lines first and make sure the deer hit didn't give me any other surprises but other than that I don't know where/waht to check. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. First check the gas cap, they do go bad. Is the charcoal cannister in in that area? If it is pull it out and look for any hairline cracks. Also you are in the rust belt, so it is possible your filler neck is leaking. Another way a shop tests for this is to take a hydrocarbon sniffer and check all the likely places for fuel vapor. The sniffer can detct them before you can. Remove the two access covers in the trunk and inspec the rubber hoses etc coming out of the tank. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Here's pretty much what you'll see if you remove the RH access cover in the rear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulloff Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Thanks for the tips I'm going to start looking everything over tonight and see if I can find anything out of the ordinary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 These may provide some additional insight: http://www.endwrench.com/current/02SpringInsiderInfo.pdf http://endwrench.com/pdf/fuel/MoreP0440TipsInfoW00.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulloff Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 Thanks 0B99W for the links, I think I understand the system much better now, I’m still lost but a little less lost. I started out with the easy things first and I checked all my fuel lines and everything looks perfect: no visible cracking, good tight clamps, nothing out of the ordinary. I suspected the minor surface rust on the filler neck-gas cap connection so I did a quick cleaning with a wire brush and got it looking new again. I put a little grease on the threads of the filler neck to make sure the gas cap got a good seal. I disconnected the battery cable and reset everything and (not surprisingly) the CEL was back on in no time. I’m planning on temporarily swapping gas caps with my fathers Subaru for a few days to see if that is the issue. I do have one other possible symptom that may be related: about a year ago the car started to chug and hesitate immediately after I filled up the tank. It would chug for a split second and then run smooth for about 5 seconds and then chug for another split second then run smooth for another 5 seconds. This cycle would last for about 30-90 seconds and then everything would smooth out and the car would run as smooth as silk for the rest of the tank. Next refill the cycle would start again. My gut tells me the chugging is related and was an early symptom of one of these failing: - Pressure Control Solenoid Valve - Vent Solenoid Valve - Canister Purge Valve I’ve got no experience with any of these valves and don’t even know where to look or what they look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 It sounds like this will a fun problem to try to figure out. One of the criteria in that article for the test to occur is "The fuel tank must contain less than 9.6 gallons of fuel." So it might be possible, by keeping at least that much fuel in the tank, to reset the CEL and make a few trips until all the readiness monitors are set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Thanks 0B99W for the links, I think I understand the system much better now, I’m still lost but a little less lost. You're welcome. I started out with the easy things first and I checked all my fuel lines and everything looks perfect: no visible cracking, good tight clamps, nothing out of the ordinary. I suspected the minor surface rust on the filler neck-gas cap connection so I did a quick cleaning with a wire brush and got it looking new again.[...] It's been mentioned before, but did you check the filler pipe itself? You may have to remove a shield to inspect it, but it's probably worth the time. If you have any trouble getting the tank to fill, see this: http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/VehicleWont.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulloff Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 I'm a week overdue on inspection and I was thinking about trying to reset the CEL and then keeping a full tank of fuel (more than 9.6 gal) to fool the CEL. Not sure what kind of history criteria the car needs to pass NYS inspection though. Car fills with fuel fine, nothing ever leaks, doesn't overflow, I don't (excessively) top off the tank. As for the filler pipe, I need to get all the plastic shrouding off but an inspection is eminent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 You can find the NYS inspection requirements on the NYS DMV web site, just do a google search. Then go to the nys inspection program for dealers and it lists the requirements in detail. I print this out and check everything myself before going in that way I know its good to go. Bulbs are an easy thing for a shop to find and make a few bucks on replacing. After you reset the cel, you will need to make enough trips to get all the readiness monitors set. Oh actually I think that might include the test where you can't have more than 9.6 gallons gas so maybe thatt won't work. You really need an odbii code reader so you can tell if all the readiness monitors are set otherwise you will notbpass NYS inspection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulloff Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 It was my vent valve, and filler neck. I'm in the un-fun process of moving and things were just too hectic so I had Pats Radiator in Naples, NY do the work, great price and very knowledgeable about Subaru's. I hate paying anyone to work on my car but I had to bite the bullet on this one. Now all I need to do is find a dark blue hood and it will look like new again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDW25gt Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Thanks 0B99W for the links, I think I understand the system much better now, I’m still lost but a little less lost. I started out with the easy things first and I checked all my fuel lines and everything looks perfect: no visible cracking, good tight clamps, nothing out of the ordinary. I suspected the minor surface rust on the filler neck-gas cap connection so I did a quick cleaning with a wire brush and got it looking new again. I put a little grease on the threads of the filler neck to make sure the gas cap got a good seal. I disconnected the battery cable and reset everything and (not surprisingly) the CEL was back on in no time. I’m planning on temporarily swapping gas caps with my fathers Subaru for a few days to see if that is the issue. I do have one other possible symptom that may be related: about a year ago the car started to chug and hesitate immediately after I filled up the tank. It would chug for a split second and then run smooth for about 5 seconds and then chug for another split second then run smooth for another 5 seconds. This cycle would last for about 30-90 seconds and then everything would smooth out and the car would run as smooth as silk for the rest of the tank. Next refill the cycle would start again. My gut tells me the chugging is related and was an early symptom of one of these failing: - Pressure Control Solenoid Valve - Vent Solenoid Valve - Canister Purge Valve I’ve got no experience with any of these valves and don’t even know where to look or what they look like. Where are the three valves located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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