Xa_life

Hi y'all
My Scion xA is close to hitting 100,000 miles soon and it's still running like new (of course after giving it new front wheel bearing). Recently the engine light lit up and surely enough, it was the charcoal canister. This is the first time this has ever happened since we bought the car back in '06 so I consider myself lucky. After the mechanic (at the dealership) told me the repair would cost between $900-1000 (and after I turned pale white from the news) I decided to look up the codes and the parts online to make sure the dealership wasn't tricking me out of my money. I noticed that many faced the same problems back when the car just came out, but not recently. Either that or there's not that any xA's around anymore. ANYWAYS, I took a look under the hood and noticed the hoses connected to the EVAP sensor were loose. I bought $3 hose clamps, tightened them, rode my car for almost a mile or two, then reset the system. Engine light's been gone for almost a month now (yes, I waited a month because I wanted to make sure it was working) no charcoal canister problems, no evap sensor problems. Just $3 spent at a local autozone store. I also noticed many scion's face this problem and I'm just saying it doesn't cost anything to double check your vehicle before taking it in to get fixed.

mb2008

I think the canister only goes bad if it is hit hard or from going to the car wash during winter and having water soak it then freeze causing it to crack. The sensor you're probably talking about is the purge VSV, it's the purge valve for the canister.