ok just got back from the mechanic. He was checking my CEL cuz its on and some other things.... and i was in shock when he was teliing me about EVAP.... cost $739 with labor!!!! and i read the paper he gave me and says.... canister, vent sol, vacuum sol, vacuum valve.

I need a little help with the parts...... how can i find these parts??? theres like 2-3 canisters for the maximas. Vent also.... Vent what??

 

Welcome to the Evap club. I believe the Purge Valve runs about $100, and the charcoal tank runs another $200. You probably don't have to replace the Release Valve (under the hood); and the lines are likely OK.

Which means $300 plus labor. If your mechanic has done this before, it's probably a 1-2 hour job.

Here's a picture of my old tank:



And here's where the crack was... lousy, freaking design, if you ask me.

 

sounds like the mechanic wants to replace all the valves under there. there is a vacuum cut valve, the evap purge valve, the evap vent valve etc... see the following diagram.

 

Just curious what prompted you to take your car in? Was the CEL EVAP related?

 

thats why CEL its on.... cuz EVAP problem!

 

I replaced my valve and still used the old canister. I used a plastic epoxy to attach the valve once it cracked from removal. A year later I added a hose clamp to one of the hoses under there because of a CEL. The epoxy is still solid since 07.

 

That's what I was checking.
Thanks

 

from your experience what you guys suggest me to do??? to do everything... or skip and do the most importants?? cuz $700 its a lot of money. What i have to replace so CEL goes away?

 

Did the mechanic hook it up to a smoke machine to see if or where the leak is coming from? Or does he just want to replace everything?

 

he didnt say anything about leak. Only thing that is going to leak and i have to replace it is the oil cooler pipe. im so freaked out.... cuz i had in my plans to put new tranny on my max but....

 

At the dealership I used to work at, the first thing they did when an evap code was pulled was to hook a smoke machine up to it to find the problem. If not, you can chase your tail with it unless every single part of the evap system is replaced. There are evap ports on cars for a reason, to hook up a smoke machine to it to test for leaks and to find the problem. I would ask that particular mechanic to hook it up to a smoke machine. If they don't and just want to start replacing parts, I would go take your car to another shop.

 

^^^^ +1^^^^

 

My mechanic also hooked up the smoke machine before deciding on a course of action. He even tried to repair the tank and strap the new purge valve to the old charcoal tank first... but that didn't work, hence the new tank.

It reads like your shop simply wants to replace everything without further diagnostics. And at a premium price, too. If you're able, I'd get an estimate from another shop.

Also, in hindsight, that charcoal tank doesn't seem that hard to get at yourself. Ah, hindsight...

 

the tank is held in by 2 6mm bolts. But lot's of hoses and ****ty nissan clamps, and the dreaded frozen harness clips.

 

The Release Valve is attached to the charcoal tank by two 6mm bolts. Those bolts are embedded in the plastic, which is where the design fail comes into play. According to my local Nissan shop, this is almost always the point of failure. The tank itself has three mounting points.

Refer to the pics above that I took last year.

 

im thinking to go to another shop too. Do i have to pay if i go just to look my car? Does anyone know? The shop i went they know my friend very well and i didnt pay anything...

 

I would think that most shops wouldn't charge for an estimate. That is, if you had the repairs done at that particular shop. If I have absolutely no idea what's wrong with my Max, I'll take it to the shop to have them diagnose the problem and then fix it myself. If they do charge you to look at it, it shouldn't be much. However, I'm not a mechanic, nor do I work for a shop, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Hell, take two.

 

Jesus H... If you lived around here I would do the valve for you for $40. Mechanics are in buesiness to make money, but Daaaamn. $700+ is rape.

 

I was getting a couple of codes for the evap system last August. One recommendation was to try a new gas cap, so I did. Along with that I did a couple other things...

- click the gas cap a couple of times closing it, not just once
- I stopped trying to get every last drop in the tank, stop at the auto shut off
- don't (over) fill and then let the car sit.

The last 2 items can cause the canister to saturate and potentially give the codes. My codes have not returned in 3 months now ( knock on wood).

Chuck

 

Good call on the gas cap.

 

yes but it only worked for about 3 fill ups for me. Came back after I opened the cap the 4th time.

 

I replaced my gas cap last year with a brand new one... just because I was researching all this EVAP crappola at the time my tank failed. It seems a reasonable preventative maintenance thing for a 9 year old car. Kind of like replacing the "lifetime" fuel strainer.

 

someone told me about gas cap too.... i dont have anything to loose i guess... how much is it?? like $5?

 

Ha ha, no. $25

 

hehehe damn nissan, i guess i have lots to loose :P

 

Does your car have less then 80K miles? There is a Federal emissions warranty (Separate from factory Warranty) that covers all emission related components for 8 years or 80K miles. It's 2011 and we're talking about a 03 Maxima, so you're just at the end of 8 years, and you might squeeze inside the time window.

The EVAP system is an emissions component and is covered by the emissions Warranty.

Call Nissan Corporate to see if your car will still be covered.

DW

 

i have around 114k miles!

 

Damn

DW

 

On a positve note, your engine is just about broken in.

 

CODE p0440 just came up for me tonight

Looking at the FSM this isnt going to be easy.

Any one know how I can do a smoke/leak test myself ?

 

Check my reply a few entries up. I was getting 2 codes about the evap system and the 3 things I did caused it to go away. I did buy a new Nissan gas cap for $25. (I happened to be closer to a Nissan dealer.) Note - my car is an I-35, the part #s are different for a Max and an I-35 - and the price. About $40 for the I-35 cap if I remember. He brought out both and of course they were identical. I got the Nissan cap.

So new cap, tighten more than 1 click, don't overfill the tank, and don't fill up then go right home and let it sit. It can get warm, gas expands and again will saturate the canister. Good luck and hope it works for you as well.

BTW - I had cleared the code several times before the new cap, and it would come back after 3-4 tanks. Once I got the new cap and changed the filling routine, it did come back once, but not again after that. My car was at around 150K when this happened. Good luck and hope you find an inexpensive solution.

Chuck

 

I went through this a few years ago, replaced the canister and valve near the exhaust myself (one hour tops VERY easy) and still had the code. Bought a new gas cap and the code went away forever. There are multiple threads on this. look up "evap canister". ALWAYS do cheap $20 gas cap first. Buy the parts online if necessary and put them on yourself. Its one of the few mecahnical things that im sure ANYONE can handle. Its just a few pinch style hose clamps and three bolts or so. Wear glasses when you remove it because crud is going to fill yo face!

 

vapor canister?

 

thats the one

 

and the valve you said... is it the purge valve?

 

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-like-gas.html

i dont know.. its the one on the canister. theres just one of a thousand threads on this exact problem that many maxs experience in their life

 

is it like this?

 

i just put new gas cap!!! $23 from stealership

 

I just did the same, 8$ from autozone

 

do they have OEM???