97 850 Evap emissions "Check engine" light issue

huwman · Post by **huwman** » 11 May 2005, 21:44

My 1997 850, 96K, had a check engine light come on. Local Brake Max ran the diagnostic and it coded for the evap. emissions system. Smoke test revelaed leaks in charcoal canister and associated valve. Total to diagnose: $150.

Is this something I can fix? I can't find these parts except for the local dealer who will as usual charge through the nose for them. BM quoted $400 more to fix it.

Help!

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 12 May 2005, 05:55

PLEASE, Put your wallet down now and don't listen to whoever you've been taking the car too. They're ripping you off. Autozone can read your codes for free and a smoke test is not necessary to tell you that the evap. valve is bad. It is a somewhat common problem on these cars around 100k miles. I'll do ya a favor and tell you how to save $350 cause I'm just nice like that

. OK, go here and order the $52 purge valve. Once you get it, you'll need a T-30 torx bit (I think, maybe T-27. Just buy the little set that goes from like T-10 or so up to T-30 or T-35. It's cheap.). Now, open the hood and look over towards the driver's side of the car in sorta between the battery and the fan shroud. The evap valve is held in a bracket attached to the fan shroud. Here's a pic of what it looks like:

Now, just unclip the hoses coming out of each side and undo the electrical connection, and then remove the valve from the bracket once you've taken it out of the car. Install the new valve in the bracket and reattach hoses and electrical connection. Reinstall bracket to fan shroud. Take the car to Autozone and tell them you just fixed the problem and to clear the codes.

Now, can you believe they wanted to charge you $400 to do something like that? Pat yourself on the back; you just saved $350.