Check engine light,and code what now?

[Mazdax605]

Hey guys,

Well after the long trip to NY I now have a problem with the van.My wife took it today to my sons swimming lesson because she doesn't have a beach rights sticker on her van yet,and called me while on the road to say the check engine light was on.I asked her if it was running okay,and she siad "yeah I guess?". I told her not to worry about it as it was running,and it probably wasn't anything major.I met her at the lesson to see my son swimming,and check the van out.I got a code from it,and looked it up on allpar.com.It is code 0455 which near as I can tell is a "Major leak in the evaportaive emission system".What would be the first place to look? Is this serious? Should I tell her to stop driving it? She is just using it to go to the grocery store after the lesson,and then home(maybe 10 miles total round trip).Thanks in advace.

Oh yeah this is a 2001 Ram Wagon 2500 5.2 litre w/103k miles on it,and it is new to me about a month or so ago.

Chris

[Mazdax605]

I asked my wife to check the gas cap when she got to the grocery store,and she said it was barely even sitting inplace let alone screwed on.She screwed inplace,and the light is still on,how can I reset this? Is it possible I didn't screw the cap on tight at my last fill-up,and the light waited this long to come on,or was I siphoned last night? I asked her where the gauge was at,and she siad about half which I think is where it was when we got home from our trip.

Chris

[Mazdax605]

Well I just got home from work,and tried on a whim to fix the check engine light/engine code. I disconnected the negative battery post for a few minutes,and it seems to have fixed the problem.Now I guess it is time to find a locking gas cap,or remember to tighten down the cap next time. I am not sure I was siphoned,but it is a possibility.

Chris

[bobo35]

Well done Chris! I recently had to get a locking gas cap too for my 06 Colorado. Amazingly my mpg went up!

[Dodgevanman]

That sucks...I hope that wasn't the case. It's a dang shame that you have to do that. Are gas prices that bad that people have to go around stealing gas?