shewholovescats
New Member
Would appreciate any advice on a mystery we have with our 2004 Toyota Camry V-6 XLE. It has 270K miles on it, and in the fall the "vsc" "trac cntrl off" and "engine" lights all lit up. Husband has the OBD scan tool and it came up with "P 0442" code--which apparently is some type of emissions problem. Took to local shop in PF, they suggested the cheap fix, first, to replace gas cap...mine wasn't loose but new cap was only $24 (and yes it is a genuine Toyota cap). Drove car for 200 miles after re-setting lights and all lights came back on. I do turn the cap past the 3 clicks so that I know it is actually sealing. Back to same shop; they then ran a diagnostic test with a smoke test; told me a "computer re-flash" would fix the problem. Spent $158 on that; re-set computer...drove car, 300 miles, lights back on! Back up to shop 3rd time to discuss their first statement that the computer re-flash would fix problem and it didn't. They ran (for free) another smoke test and diagnostic and said that the only other thing it could be was the charcoal canister or the valve connected to it working intermittantly and the canister may be coming apart from inside and releasing particles to make the valve stick. This repair estimate was $870.
At this point we decided to take a Toyota dealer in SMC and make sure before spending that kind of money that it would fix the problem. Tech had car for 2.5 hours, ran all sorts of tests including another diagnostic and smoke test. They wrote up that the "charcoal canister had an internal leak" and said they would charge around $890 to fix. We ordered the genuine Toyota part for $400 from dealer and had another certified mechanic put on for $100, so instead of $870, "repair" cost was $500. But it didn't fix the problem!!! Mechanic re-set lights, I drove car for 87 miles and the lights came back on.
So now it was getting close to having to pass the emissions test required in this county. Lights/computer were re-set again and I was told to just take car up and if it failed emissions, we'd have to do their process to get repair and/or waiver and so on. I drove car 20 miles after computer was re-set and headed to emissions. Lo and behold, the car passed!!!!! So, we have another 2 years to figure out this mystery. But what else is there on this car that could be causing the lights to come on, and never with the same # of miles driven or engine hours between re-sets and lights returning??
And if I have an emissions problem, how did that car pass that required test?? Also, my gas mileage has not been affected at all. I still get the same mileage from a tank of gas that I got from day one. The car is running fine; no other issues. We read online about a "fuel vapor vent pressure switch"...apparently this part cost around $200--but not one place ever suggested that fix; no one ever mentioned that part to us. We feel like we've spent all this money for nothing...and my car dashboard is still lit up all the time. Can anyone help us narrow down what else could be causing this? We're out of ideas. Thanks, all!
At this point we decided to take a Toyota dealer in SMC and make sure before spending that kind of money that it would fix the problem. Tech had car for 2.5 hours, ran all sorts of tests including another diagnostic and smoke test. They wrote up that the "charcoal canister had an internal leak" and said they would charge around $890 to fix. We ordered the genuine Toyota part for $400 from dealer and had another certified mechanic put on for $100, so instead of $870, "repair" cost was $500. But it didn't fix the problem!!! Mechanic re-set lights, I drove car for 87 miles and the lights came back on.
So now it was getting close to having to pass the emissions test required in this county. Lights/computer were re-set again and I was told to just take car up and if it failed emissions, we'd have to do their process to get repair and/or waiver and so on. I drove car 20 miles after computer was re-set and headed to emissions. Lo and behold, the car passed!!!!! So, we have another 2 years to figure out this mystery. But what else is there on this car that could be causing the lights to come on, and never with the same # of miles driven or engine hours between re-sets and lights returning??
And if I have an emissions problem, how did that car pass that required test?? Also, my gas mileage has not been affected at all. I still get the same mileage from a tank of gas that I got from day one. The car is running fine; no other issues. We read online about a "fuel vapor vent pressure switch"...apparently this part cost around $200--but not one place ever suggested that fix; no one ever mentioned that part to us. We feel like we've spent all this money for nothing...and my car dashboard is still lit up all the time. Can anyone help us narrow down what else could be causing this? We're out of ideas. Thanks, all!
