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davevickery
Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2005
Posts: 2887
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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 Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:58 pm Post subject: Gas Cap fails emissions |
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| Just curious if anyone has run into this too. I usually always pass emissions but about every other time I fail the gas cap test. A couple times they marked it that they don't have the correct fitting and they let me by. Another time they didn't and I went down to napa bought some ridiculous tin looking cap that fit on and it passed. I swapped back right after. This time, I told them I don't think their equipment is able to make a seal. I could see the machine saying no pressure produced or something. She was a dick and wouldn't entertain the discussion. So I told them I would buy a brand new cap and if it fails again I want to speak with a supervisor. Anyone found that their cap actually was no good? |
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70coupyel
Samba Member
Joined: September 06, 2006
Posts: 1657
Location: So.Cal
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| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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In Co is the cap tested off the van? If it is then u might have to do what they say. If tested on the van then the evap system comes into play. Vent tank system also. Here in calif the cap is tested on their machine.
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| TheAndante wrote: |
| Saying that specs are different than dimensions doesn't make sense. Porsche specs/VW specs/engineering specs are nothing but a series of dimensions,sizes,percentages,measurements, etc. |
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=338946&highlight=
70 KG Coup
83 Westy Waterboxer |
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tschroeder0
Samba Member
Joined: April 14, 2008
Posts: 2096
Location: Boulder CO
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| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah dave, happens to me every time 
Todd |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 7917
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:55 pm Post subject: Re: Gas Cap fails emissions |
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| davevickery wrote: |
| I went down to napa bought some ridiculous tin looking cap that fit on and it passed. I swapped back right after. |
Did you keep ^that cap? Is that the cap they tested this time? If not, buy a new one, get it tested: If it passes, keep it and use it every test time (swap back to OEM afterwards); if it doesn't pass, then there's clearly an issue with the test equipment.
FWIW, my van still has its original cap and has passed every test thus far (edit: off-the-van tests).
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Last edited by kamzcab86 on Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jake de Villiers
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5911
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Here in BC they test the cap off the van.
First time through AirCare with the grey van when it was new to us, the cap failed. Went over to BowWow (RIP) and bought a new one - it failed!
The second inspection attendant said, "They all fail." 
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tam_shops
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2012
Posts: 1530
Location: Vancouver BC
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| Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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So if they all fail, what do you do?
I've been wondering about testing here in BC. A few of the vans I like are on the Island and they don't test there, so wondering what kind of a pain it'll be to get one here where they do test...
tam |
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RGS Paul
Samba Member
Joined: April 20, 2007
Posts: 663
Location: Los Alamos, NM
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| Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 8:18 am Post subject: |
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They never tested my cap, just looked at it said 'we don't test that kind of cap' and moved on. They got grumpy that I was in the 4WD lane with my Syncro at first though, kept waving me to the 2WD lanes.
Glad I don't have to do through that process again any time soon.
Paul
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'87 Syncro 7-Pass. Adventure Touring Vehicle
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davevickery
Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2005
Posts: 2887
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:22 am Post subject: |
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To clarify, in Colorado they test the van on a dynometer checking emissions at various speeds intended to simulate real life driving. Then they remove the cap and hook it up to a pressure thing and see how much pressure it holds. It is fails they say the emissions test may not be valid as the lack of seal on the gas tanks can affect the test.
I could have bought another $5 cap at NAPA and gone back to retest immediately, but I decided to test out my hypothesis that their equipment does not fit vanagon gas caps. Besides my cap is a bit hard to turn the key, so a new one is somewhat justified. I can always go for the $5 POS tin NAPA cap if things don't work out but I intend to get my point across if the new cap fails. |
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vandam
Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2012
Posts: 116
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:39 am Post subject: |
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I had an econoline ford van fail because of a gas cap. But it was the check engine light that triggered the fail. So I fixed it with a couple channel locks, cleared the code and all was good. In Oregon you aren't allowed to pump your own gas so all the minimum wage teenagers screw up my gas caps . I have to tell them exactly how the dam thing works every time. Was the Vanagon the only vehicle to have the two prong quarter turn design?
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84 GL, 2.1 rebuilt |
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