ClutchKimball

I started my 01 this morning to go drop off my kid, and started down my road. I turned on the defrost with the blower cranked. before I went 1/8 mile, the vehicle filled with a wierd smell that smelled like natural gas or propane or something to me. My 5 year old son commented that it "smelled like gas" The check engine light came on immediately. My sense of smell is seriously degraded from being a painter, so I couldn't swear to what it smelled like to a normal person.

I obviously pulled him out of the vehicle and checked everything I knew how to check. The smell subsided fairly quickly, and we continued on our way. I went to AutoZone to pull the DTC, and it came up with:

EVAP system: Large Leak Detected

Probable cause:
1. Defective loose or missing fuel cap
2. EVAP cansiter broke, hose cracked, or not connected
3. Purge or vent solenoid defective
4. Vacuum leak at engine

I clicked the Fuel cap 10 or so times to make sure it was tight, but the last time I got fuel was 2 days ago. I crawled underneath and checked all the connections to the EVAP canister but nothing looked out of the ordanary. There dosen't seem to be any idle surges, high idle, or obvious vacuum leaks in the engine compartment. The engine seems to be running properly. All of this stuff would be explainable without the smell...the smell kinda wierded me out. I have tried to replicate the smell since, to no success.

Anybody got any ideas?

Mike1998XJ

Sent you e-mail on this with info...

ClutchKimball

Okay, so it's been a couple days, and it apparently wasn't the gas cap. I tried putting a new EVAP Purge Solenoid on it, and that didn't work. Anybody got any ideas, or had any similar issues?

ClutchKimball

The check engine light went off today...so I swapped the Purge solenoid back to see if it would turn it back on...kind of a "check your work" kinda thing. Nothing yet...

Maybe it was the gas cap?

bfisher42

ive had the same problem in my 2000. i replaced my purge solenoid as well. i did however trace my gas smell to a cracked fuel injector. did your CEL come on as soon as you started your jeep and was it really hot outside? was your jeep in direct sun for an extended amount of time?

ClutchKimball

Not really... It was about 10am when it happened...cold start, and it was chilly enough out to have the windows closed and the defrost on. It still hasn't done it again...even with the old Purge Solenoid.

I will check the injectors anyway just to be safe. Good suggestion. I will be swapping them out anyway in a couple days. Just got some Neon/stratus Injectors from the pick-a-part. Hopefully this improves my Less-than-crap gas mileage.

bfisher42

I replaced my purge to and thought it was over. I was surprised though because it came back on just like yours. I haven't had the problem since I replaced the injectors. I also replaced some of my rubber 90's on my vacuum lines in the engine bay the same time I replaced the injectors. Some were beat and porous so I thought it was a good idea. That could have helped too.

ClutchKimball

Your injectors were bad and it caused a Large Leak in the EVAP system code?

bfisher42

no no. sorry. i do believe my gas smell was coming from the bad injector. my evap leak i think was repaired when i replaced one of the rubber 90's or connectors that were dry rotted on my vacuum lines. i don't think replacing the purge solenoid did a thing.

ken72

I have this same problem and I have followed most of the line that I can get to and have yet to locate the issue. This code ticks me off because it does not narrow things down enough like other codes.

nismo5

my jeep wouldnt pass the evap test for smog because the o-ring/gasket went bad where the fuel pump goes into the tank the smog shop i went to pumped some kinda smoke into the system to find the leak it was around $40 i think but saved alot of time finding the leak

ken72

They charge $80 around here for a smoke test. I just gave up on it. I have a low idle issue that I have been trying to solve instead.

ClutchKimball

The smoke test sounds like a good idea.

cat980

I dont know if this is going to help you, but i have an 01 with 196k on her..and at about 25k my engine lite came on with a evap 0442 0445...being that i was living in NH at the time it never bothered me. Then moved back to NY to find out that NY laws now require engine lite to be extingiushed for emissions test...so....

after checking everything, from pump, canister, hoses decided to get the smoke test..as stated above..... i found out a massive amount of "smoke" coming from the top of the gas tank..

so of course i had to drop the tank to fix the problem.......and to make matters worse it was only a loose cap.....

so now a year later and time for my yearly inspection i need to drop the tank again because the damn lite came on again.. it seems to be a regular thing..or maybe just for me.

ClutchKimball

Are you talking about the Vent line on the top of the tank was loose? or the Fuel Filler Cap was loose?

I wound up swapping out a Purge solenoid, clearing the code, and swapping in my old purge solenoid to see if it would trip the code again...and it didn't.

Since then I have started clicking the gas cap like 10 times every time I close it, and no problems since.