Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting P0442 - small leak exists in the evaporative emiss

Hey Guys,

My buddy has an 02 cougar and......

P0442 popped up.....gas cap has been replaced and code is still up. I cleared the codes with the scanner and a week later it popped back up. I'm wondering what else it could be.

I checked the vacuum lines and the lines coming out of the air intake. On the rubber bellow that connects to the MAF....there are two outlets on the backside....the one on the bottom that travels around to the back of the engine appears to have what looks like a big burn in the side of it. The line itself is hard to the touch and I'm not sure if the gouge or burn goes all the way to the center...thus exposing a hole where there may be a leak on the vacuum/air system....or whatever you want to call it.

What is this line that comes out of the bellow and could that cause the P0442 to come up? If not...what else could cause this code to keep coming up?? Let me know what you guys think....later.

slingersvt
ps - it's a 02 ATX cougar

i assume the evap canister is underneath the car by the gas tank???

any precautions I need to take when taking it off to....hopefully clean it out??

slingersvt

Disconnect negative battery terminal cable.

In addition, if it were my CONTOUR, I would first check the EVAP canister purge solenoid valve clipped to the firewall. And according to Haynes, remove the ignition coil first for better access. Check that air can flow through the valve when the solenoid is energized (really don't know how to do this with battery cable off). And air should not go through when the solenoid is not energized. Or resistance should be 50 to 120 ohms across the terminals (for the CONTOUR). Good luck.