[ABC_Driving_School]

I have a 2007 New Beetle 2.5 with about 137K miles and an automatic transmission. The CEL has been on for ages and I have finally gotten around to trying to deal with it. I'm a pretty handy DIY'er, but am mostly familiar with BMWs. I'm lost when it comes to dealing with VW issues - which is part of why I put it off for so long.

Anyway, along with the CEL, I've been having a weird problem with the car and they must be related. Whenever I put gas in it, it is very hard to get started. It will crank, but not start. I have learned to floor the gas pedal while cranking and then it will start. Obviously, this is not ideal.

I scanned the codes and am getting this one: P0455 Evaporative Emission System Leak Detected (Gross Leak / No Flow)

According the research I've done, this is commonly caused by a faulty gas cap. So I coughed up 40 bucks (!) for a new cap from a VW dealership. And people complain that BMW parts are expensive!! I installed the new gas cap and cleared the code. Now the CEL is gone, but the "Gas Cap" warning light is on instead. The same P0455 code is showing, though. So the problem is clearly not the gas cap. More research points to the EVAP Purge Valve as a possible suspect. But before I throw any more money at parts, I'd to be able to do a more thorough diagnosis.

Can anyone suggest a way to troubleshoot this problem? I did find a DIY on this board to do just that, but it's for the 2.0 engine, which looks completely different to the 2.5 in my car. Is the procedure similar enough that the DIY for the 2.0 will get it done? Is there a way to test the EVAP Purge Valve without replacing it? Where is it, anyway?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm about to sell this car and want/need to get this sorted out first.

 

[bme]

I think they moved it to the back of the car where tank is at, behind the fender liner. Usually you can remove them and test them to see if they are bad. I recently did this on a cabrio I had for a while.

1. Find the valve and remove it.
2. Hook it to battery power (I just took some connectors and wire)
3. Cut the power on and off (just touch it to the terminal).
4. As you do this you should hear a clicking sound.
5. If you don't that's a problem.
6. If you do blow through the valve while doing the on and off thing and you should have flow and not have flow as you do this. Make sure it is in the right direction because they are open one way all the time.
7. If you are not getting the proper flow try let it soak with a lubricant such as wd-40. I wound up not having to even replace mine because it worked fine after I cleaned it out.


Good luck!


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[jfoj]

Another common problem is the evap tank gets cracked if you have any MINOR impact damage on the right rear of the car.

You may not even see any damage on the car. The evap canister is mounted behind the passenger side rear wheel.

It is also not cheap.

My wife backed into a very high curb she could not see and cracked the evap tank and caused the CEL to come on for an evap leak.

Cost me about $450 at the dealer as I was not in a position to sort the problem out at the time.

 

[Oh Randi]

If your car has a hard time starting after getting gas, it's the n80 purge valve for sure, without a doubt. I got mine for $80 off of ECS tuning. Pretty easy to change yourself if you have small hands. if it's in the same spot as the 1.8.. mine was right beside the washer bottle.

I used VAG com to test mine. I did an output test in the engine module.. I heard all the valves click rhythmically except the purge valve, which was very sporadic. (I had the same code as you but mine wasn't hard to start after getting gas, so my guess is the valve was intermittently sticking or something.. I dunno if that's possible but it seems feasible with the noise I was hearing.)

 

[bme]

If your car has a hard time starting after getting gas, it's the n80 purge valve for sure, without a doubt. I got mine for $80 off of ECS tuning. Pretty easy to change yourself if you have small hands. if it's in the same spot as the 1.8.. mine was right beside the washer bottle.

I used VAG com to test mine. I did an output test in the engine module.. I heard all the valves click rhythmically except the purge valve, which was very sporadic. (I had the same code as you but mine wasn't hard to start after getting gas, so my guess is the valve was intermittently sticking or something.. I dunno if that's possible but it seems feasible with the noise I was hearing.)

Very common Randi, that is exactly how we used to diagnose them at the dealer. I really need to get VAG-COM.


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[ABC_Driving_School]

Thank you for all of the suggestions! I found the N80 valve on my car, but it's not next to the overflow tank. It's on the front of the engine, beneath the silver plastic engine shroud (toward the passenger side). ECS Tuning has the OEM part for about $20. Given that it's cheap, and fairly simple to replace, I will try that first. Maybe I'll get lucky and that will solve the problem.

AFAIK, the car has never been backed into anything, but I'm not the only one who drives it. But I'll start with the N80 and see if that does the trick. If not, I will have to dig deeper.

As for diagnostics, I have some pretty sophisticated stuff that I use for BMWs, but all I have for the VW is an OBD-II scanner bought at Autozone. I have considered investing in VAG-COM, but it's not entirely clear how to go about that. Is there a reliable resource for it?

 

[Smileybug]

This is THE source for VAG-COM: Ross-Tech: Home

 

[ABC_Driving_School]

This is THE source for VAG-COM: Ross-Tech: Home

Awesome, thanks!!

 

[jfoj]

You may also want to read this thread - http://newbeetle.org/forums/questio...le/60391-obd-scan-tools-software-options.html

 

[robertsnowden1990]

My car is doing the same exact thing as yours. Getting it checked out now.

 

[Oh Randi]

This is THE source for VAG-COM: Ross-Tech: Home

This.


I should also add, the customer service/tech support for ross tech is FANTASTIC (except the cranky dude at the ross tech tent at sowo, he was kind of a jerk..) Every time I've called with a question they were so helpful. Vag com is worth the investment, there is no substitute when it comes to scanning a VW.


Ross-Tech Wiki
^This is awesome for looking up codes after you scan.