code p0442 - what steps to take?

[bryanhbre]

our 01 mountaineer recently had the check engine light come on. 96K miles, never had the light on since we've owned it (around late 2006). Took it to autozone & had them read the codes, only showed p0442, which is some sort of evap emissions control thing. Took off the gas cap and reset it, then disconnected the battery & cleared the codes. No codes for a week, then today the light came back on again. Should I try a new gas cap? If that doesn't fix it, what would be a good place to start from there?

 

[Dilbert5]

First I would check all the vac hoses under the hood, look for splits, cracks and such. Then the gas cap is probably a good bet. It would be nice to check it on a smoke machine, but those things are too expensive for a casual mechanic. The gas cap is cheap enough to quess at.