rx8 club help my parents in time of need. (CEL, Evap Leak)
 

Hello, my parents just recently bought an rx8 for themselves as a daily and a fun car The problem is that they bought it without me knowing a whole lot about it. All I really knew about it was that it had 39k original miles and it had a bhr ignition. So with me 4 hours away for school I cannot go home and diagnose the car myself, but hopefully some people can help. My mother was driving the rx8 to work, and the cel came on, so she called me and I told her to get the codes checked at autozone. She reported no symptoms just the cel. From autozone they printed off what they code reader said which is what follows in the picture below. I told them to take it back to the dealership they bought it from and to tell them since it seems to me they just cleared the codes before they sold it, that it should be fixed, since the car is 2 days old from the dealership. So in short, if anyone can give me some tips I can carry over to my parents, it would be great! Thank you.

Just for fun I posted the car with my very happy mother in it and their 8 and my 8 sharing the garage. They sent me the picture with my car in there first saying they were ketchup and mustard ha.

Evap small leak is almost always just a loose gas cap, perhaps the dealer just didn't tighten it enough. If it's tight and the CEL comes back, have them get a new gas cap for a few bucks.

I had her check that already, the cel is still there, my dad should know how to look for a vac leak but I am never too sure. As for solenoid, is there an easy way to diagnose that?

Just tightening the cap doesn't make the CEL go away. You will need several drive cycles with it sealed to self-clear, or have the code specifically cleared.

Gas cap failures are common too, so even if it's tight, if the code is cleared and then comes back, it's still a good idea to replace the cap before moving on to any other diagnosis options. Leaking at the gas cap is the problem 99%+ of the time it's reported on this forum. Stick with the simple stuff first.


You can still recommend that they take it back to the dealer, but to me, I'd rather pay the $3-5 for a new gas cap than waste hours at a dealership on something that they might legitimately charge you $85+ for.

Alright great thanks for the advise! I had them unhook the battery and reset with the brake so we will see if that works. Thanks RIWWP, I will keep this thread updated with it.

I've gone through 3 gas caps since ive owned my 8. The seal just seems to go bad after a while. Not sure if it's weather related or not (Chicago area). Just tightening the cap rarely works when I get the CEL. However the last time I replaced my gas cap, I polished the lip of the filling port where the gas cap goes on and so far the cap has lasted longer than any of the others.
Simple cheap fix, assuming that's the issue in your case.

I finally talked my dad into buying one. He kept saying he wouldn't believe it but he just installed it and now we will wait and see.