CEL-Code P0442

[Jim Rice]

Okay so I got the P0442 code for minor leak in the system. The guy at autozone told me to change the gas cap first since this is one of the most probable causes. My question is if it repeats, Where and What should I check before I have to take it into a shop for repair. And since the mighty buck is tight right now I would rather try and fix it myself.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

This is a tuff one as it is in reality a pretty simple system, but there are probably half a dozen components within the system.



You have the vacuum lines and there could be a leak almost anywhere.



The gas cap, purge valves and or check vales, some sort of a secondary air injection unit, (used to be belt driven, now most are a stand alone electric driven motor/pump).



All that said, the gas cap is a very common fault. More often than not, simply removing, wiping the sealing gasket off and putting it back on will solve the issue...

 

[EddieS'04]

Clean and put a light coat of vasoline on the gasket. Disconect neg battery terminal for 15min to reset. As CJ said many times it is the sealing surface not the gas cap.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

I had the same code two weeks ago and I took the gas cap off and slid the O-ring closer to the edge and put it back on disconnected the battery for about twenty minutes and haven't had the code come back since. Last week I had code PO171,174 come up and it was the PCV elbow was split, that part is right under the throttle body and went to the dealer got the elbow it was $30 comes with the whole rap around plastic tube with new rubber elbow's and clamps, that fixed those codes. Hopefully this helps out. :banana:

 

[TrainTrac]

Or, you could just get one of these and never have to worry about removing the gas cap again. It runs about $12. I have one on my '04 STA.



[Broken External Image]:

Never touch your gas cap again! Simply fully insert the gas nozzle through the trap door in the InStant Fill Cap.



Stant's new InStant Fill fuel cap makes refueling easier. Its easy to install and features a convenient trap door mechanism that accommodates the gas nozzle, eliminating the hassle of removing and replacing the cap when refueling. It also meets onboard diagnostic (OBDII) emission specifications.

Part # for a 2001-2005 Sport Trac is 41002.