2002 Chevy Venture - P0442

I have had the Service Engine Soon light come on continuously for the past few weeks. My local shop checked the EVAP system and confirmed there is a small leak, but when he put smoke into the line, it was not visible. Before I go through the expense of dropping the gas tank to check for a problem underneath, is there something else I can do to identify the source of the leak?

How does he determine that the system has a leak but he can't see it? If it's leaking out then it has to be visible! If the pressure is leaking internally then I'd be looking at a solenoid or valve issue! I'd recommend the dealer!

Pressure gauge shows a drop, however, no smoke is visible. I think I may have to bite the bullet and go to the dealer. Thanks.

Yeah because paying someone who couldn't repair it is still better then "biting the bullet" and heading to the dealer . I mean yeah they have no business charging more when they have more experience and often more expertise with your model of vehicle then the average repair centre. I swear if I hear one more dealer crack that goes unchecked by the Admin Im hanging it up and leaving everyone here to there own evils. Enough with the ignorant, unwarrantted and irrelevant comments. If you want to run down a shop run down the one facility that already looked at it and is either not tooled up or not proficent enough to repair it! Keep your dealer bashing for another site! It's not welcome here!

Take it easy Jeff. I wasn't bashing the dealer at all. In fact, they have been extremely helpful and diligent in prior issues with the vehicle, and I certainly plan on going back to the same dealer for my next vehicle purchase. I think you may have misunderstood my comment. Additionally, the garage that initially looked at the vehicle did not charge me for their time. Knowing that the analysis, and ultimate solution, may be more involved, I was just wondering whether there was an interim step I was missing. That's all.

So if they've been so diligent with the van in the past why are you not going there for servicing and repair? You say it like it's commendable that the first shop that looked at your van didn't charge you. I should hope not he didn't do anything! If he can only fix some dtcs then he's behind the times and shouldn't be allowed to call himself any kind of driviability technician. And if he doesn't call himself any kind of drivability technican then he's just a tire buster/lube jockey and shouldn't be under the hood anymore. You're dealer techs can't say I don't know because they're expectted to know and I've never seen anyone not use the term "bite the bullet" in a happy tone! You can have more then one repair option if you wish but why people feel the need to go to three different places is beyond me. A trip to Autozone for a free code read and a call to your usual shop with the question "can you repair evap codes" ? would have saved you a trip over there. Like really who do you think are the experts on this site? All non dealer techs? Yeah I must be crazy to take offense from your comment right! it must be me!