P0442 A small leak in the evaporative emissions system
8 owner reports and 2,976 manufacturer filings across 495 model years from Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford and others.
Where P0442 shows up
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaintsShowing the 25 model years where P0442 appears most; it is on file for 495 in total.
A model year appears here because the code is named in its record, not because every one of these vehicles sets it. Counts are mentions in the federal files, not failure rates — nobody publishes the denominator.
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P0442 by make
The same record, one make at a time: the model years, bulletins and owner reports that name P0442 on that maker’s vehicles.
What it gets filed under
What owners said
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseOwners’ own words, one per nameplate, scrubbed of anything identifying. These are unverified reports filed with NHTSA — they are what was said, not a finding that it was true.
A diagnostic test showed it was code P0442 related to the canister purge valve /solenoid
Few days after they did the free recall fix I got the below error code 'P0442, Evaporative Emission system leak' that the dealership claims is not related to the recall fix that they did and wants to charge me $250 just to evaluate the…
Car has less that 1000 miles and the check engine light has been on 3 times with a P0442
2,976 manufacturer filings name P0442. Start with what the maker wrote down.
A code names the test that failed, not the part. A bulletin that names it is often a diagnosis someone has already written down — quote its number at the service desk.
Manufacturer filings that name it
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communicationsService bulletins and campaigns whose filed summary names P0442.
- VIN4APIN20251112 Other2025-11-12 · Unknown Or Other
- Oil leak from Cylinder Head Cover; Customer states MIL-on, P0456, P0442, or P04F0 stored in ECM memory; Customer states MIL-on, fault P2080 present; Customer states MIL-on; Customer states various error messages on the cluster; Customer states A/C Inop, no cooling; Customer states wind noise and or water ingress; Customer states front brake noise/premature uneven pad wear; Customer states there is
- VIN4APIN20251027 Other2025-10-27 · Unknown Or Other
- Oil leak from Cylinder Head Cover; Customer states MIL-on, P0456, P0442, or P04F0 stored in ECM memory; Customer states MIL-on; Customer states various error messages on the cluster; Customer states A/C Inop, no cooling; Customer states wind noise and or water ingress; Customer states front brake noise/premature uneven pad wear; Customer states there is a noise coming from the front strut arae; Cu
- VIN4APIN20251020 Other2025-10-20 · Unknown Or Other
- Oil leak from Cylinder Head Cover; Customer states MIL-on, P0456, P0442, or P04F0 stored in ECM memory; Customer states MIL-on; Coolant leak from the cylinder head gasket, low coolant level, visible coolant leak, coolant warning message in instrument cluster; Customer states Electrical System Error Message, U04A1 [42304], U04A5 [42336], and/or U04A9 [42444] stored in DA:008C; Customer states vario
- VIN4APIN20251008 Other2025-10-08 · Unknown Or Other
- Oil leak from Cylinder Head Cover; Customer states MIL-on, P0456, P0442, or P04F0 stored in ECM memory; Customer states MIL-on; Coolant leak from the cylinder head gasket, low coolant level, visible coolant leak, coolant warning message in instrument cluster; Customer states Electrical System Error Message, U04A1 [42304], U04A5 [42336], and/or U04A9 [42444] stored in DA:008C; Customer states vario
- VIN4APIN20251001 Other2025-10-01 · Unknown Or Other
- Oil leak from Cylinder Head Cover; Customer states MIL-on, P0456, P0442, or P04F0 stored in ECM memory; Customer states Electrical System Error Message, U04A1 [42304], U04A5 [42336], and/or U04A9 [42444] stored in DA:008C; Customer states various error messages on the cluster; Customer states wind noise and or water ingress; Customer states front brake noise/premature uneven pad wear; Customer sta
- VIN4APIN20250910 Other2025-09-10 · Unknown Or Other
- Oil leak from Cylinder Head Cover; Customer states MIL-on, P0456, P0442, or P04F0 stored in ECM memory; Customer states Electrical System Error Message, U04A1 [42304], U04A5 [42336], and/or U04A9 [42444] stored in DA:008C; Customer states wind noise and or water ingress; Customer states there is a noise coming from the front strut arae; Customer states there is a noise coming from the front strut
What P0442 means
Source: SAE J2012 / OBD-IIA small leak in the evaporative emissions system.
A stored code names the test that failed, never the part that caused it. It is the starting point of a diagnosis, not its conclusion — the same code has several possible causes and the cheap one is not always right.
Common questions about P0442
Source: NHTSA files and the OBD-II standardCan I keep driving with P0442 stored?
Nobody can answer that from the code alone, and a site that does is guessing. A steady light means a fault was logged and the car should be checked soon; a flashing light means a severe misfire — slow down and get it seen as soon as possible, because severe misfire can quickly damage the catalytic converter. The safe read of this page is the mileage and the components, not permission.
Does a code mean the car is recalled?
No. Recalls are filed by campaign and matched by VIN, and none of them are triggered by a scan tool. If you want to know whether an open recall applies to one specific vehicle, check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls — that is the only source that settles it.
Why do the counts here differ from other sites?
Because these are not estimates. Every number on this page is a count of documents in NHTSA's own files: manufacturer communications that name the code in their filed summary, and owner complaints that name it in the narrative. We do not model, weight or extrapolate them.
Will clearing the code fix it?
Clearing turns the light off and erases the freeze-frame data a technician would have used to work out what happened. If the condition is still there the code returns, usually within a few drive cycles, and the diagnosis now starts from less information than before.