Necromancer

Ok. My 2005 Scion tC (yeah I still have one of those lol) had its first Check Engine Light occur yesterday. I've done my research and basically it happened after filling the car with gas the night before.

Anyways, what are the top possible causes of this light besides the gas cap? Where should I get it checked at? How much can the dealership really charge me to fix this issue?

Thanks!

bbsciontc

Well you need to pull the code to really tell. Many auto parts stores will do it for free (and then try to sell you the fix). My 2006 did this twice, with the code being "EVAP system small leak detected" or "EVAP system gross leak detected".

Based on what you are saying, it does sound like a gas cap issue. When shutting off the car, it goes into a diagnostic mode after several hours where it will pull a vacuum in the evaporative emissions system and check to see if it can maintain the negative pressure (i.e. that there are no leaks). I went though two Toyota caps and they never really fit that tight. I just purchased an aftermarket replacement from Stant, and it works great! Fit's better than the OEM one ever did and was like 8 bucks on Amazon (The Toyota one would work it's way loose a few days after filling gas).