Check Engine Light - Code P1443 Evap Control Solenoid

[multimediaman]

The code, P1443 - the symptoms ... none - until refueling.

The root cause - a breather valve for allowing smooth refueling failed, causing premature fuel-up cut-offs. This in turn lead me to overfill my tank (I didn't think I was at the time, but I'm sure I couldn't have estimated the exact amounts perfectly each time, plus a broken gas pump shut-off every now and then spilling fuel out the tank ...

Well, after a few months it seemed the breather valve wasn't nearly as much of an issue anymore ... either that or I got so used to topping off that I forgot about it ... but then after a while I started getting P1443 CEL codes - Autozone checked them out and gave me the information "Evap Control Solenoid"

It was running fine as far as I could tell, the light went away after a couple hundred miles, and I assumed that perhaps all this talk of loose gas caps was the problem ... so I made sure to keep the cap on tightly...

Eventually though, after refueling (even an almost-empty tank only up 5 gallons to below half-tank), the car would not want to start well, forcing me to give it gas in park/neutral in order to even run, otherwise it would stall right back down again.

I took it to the shop, and they took the system apart, analyzed the solenoids and valves, said that when they tested them, they activated properly... they also said that they seemed to be moving properly... though one seemed to stick a little bit. They replaced that, and the breather valve, and possibly a few other tidbits back there, and all seemed good.

However the check engine light keeps coming on every once in a while, and it's always P1443.

After some research, I'm lead to believe that the problem wasn't anything but that breather valve, and stems from me trying to workaround it. I've likely overfilled the tank, causing fuel to flood the charcoal canister, which is only supposed to receive fuel vapors. This is detrimental to the charcoal and the construction within the canister, and can cause charcoal pellets to brittle, break, crack, dislodge, and enter into parts that would be bad for charcoal pellets to exist. Namely into the vapor lines.

So what I'm thinking is there were charcoal fragments/pellets entering into the lines, and this would in turn disable some valve or solenoid from doing its job, hence the error code. Perhaps the varying size of the obstruction would explain why sometimes it's a code that lasts 70-miles, and sometimes it's a code that lasts 700 miles...

Anyway, driving along at about a little over half-tank, only difference is, I was on an extremely quiet road... able to hear just about everything the car was doing. I heard a little tiny clunk from the back end, right around the evap canister, solenoids, and valves, and lo and behold, check engine light. Now I'm even more confident that something dreadful has happened to my charcoal canister...


Long Story Short, I suspect that overfueling the tank has degraded my charcoal canister... and now the charcoal has crumbled, and is getting into the vapor lines.

So my questions are:

- is my logic concerning the charcoal canister decent or flawed? Do the symptoms match?

- is the charcoal canister something that's serviceable, say, opening it up, cleaning it out, putting new charcoal in? Or is it going to be something to replace altogether?

- I've seen both the plastic box (divided into two sections, one large, one narrow) that's readily visible, AND the metal capsule above it referred to as charcoal canisters ... I've seen youtube footage of charcoal pellets pouring out of the plastic box ... I've seen youtube footage of someone putting charcoal into parts that look like the metal capsule above the plastic box ... So which is actually the object containing the charcoal here? I've also seen part lists that list both items as charcoal canisters... -__-

- If it's the plastic box that needs servicing/replacing ... I've only seen one website that looks like they sell a new OEM spec one on a routine basis ... Does anyone happen to know a part number here so I could check suppliers I've actually heard of to find the part?

- Is there anything else I should know or check before considering to remove parts?

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[EJBurton88]

P1443 - Vent Control Solenoid Valve Function Problem

No your logic is not off if you got liquid fuel into the canister you need to replace the canister its only supposed to have fuel vapor in it. Its hard to diag. over internet. No you cannot open it up you must go to dealership regarding EVAP related replacements doesnt mean you have to have them do it if you take it to an independant shop like the one i work at we'll get it from dealer, and replace as a unit. No i mean if you can do it your self go on ahead its not that hard. working on the ground just sucks. hope this is useful

[multimediaman]

Thanks for the reply ... I was hoping it was a serviceable part ... I have no real problem doing stuff to it myself, it's readily accessible to remove, almost had it off last night, but since it was ... night... I had to see by light, and I figured if there were going to be fuel vapors, and potentially fuel, using electric lights to see with is probably not a great idea.

I started unhooking the piping to it, and noticed the piping connectors, where it was almost completely off looked glossy, like fuel was *still* getting in there, despite me not filling over half a tank for about 2 weeks now.

Well, anyway, I guess I'm going to stop by the dealership and ask for a replacement charcoal canister... or at least a part number for one.

the part I'm concerned about is that it's telling me a solenoid has failed, so there's probably a pellet lodged up the tubing somewhere. That'll be fun to find.

I also noticed my differential seems to be seeping fluid. tack that onto the list of maintenance along with head gasket replacement, spring replacement, steering tune-up, and wheel balancing, new battery, parking light replacement, headlight alignment, and coolant flush and I have no shortage of work to do at all.

I hate to admit it, but at least dealerships do a lot of work. When you take on maintenance all on your own, covering all the bases can be tricky. I probably need a new thermostat and radiator cap now already too.

I would seriously hate to see a dealership bill for all that I've mentioned above lol

[multimediaman]

just an update : I finally got the canister replacement part in (about $100 from the dealer) and when I took the old one off, sure enough, tilt it a bit and out pours charcoal... this seems like it was the culprit... it also made noise when I moved it around a bit, almost as though you can hear loose bits in there.

I couldn't find evidence of it messing up the lines immediately around it, but I suppose if I get a CEL again I'm going to have to pull a lot more out from the evap system and clean/replace the tubing associated with it.

if I get a CEL again I'll probably be back with yet another update to this thread >.>

[am1449]

ahh, crap. wrong part.