annettyo8

2012 Honda Civic SI coupe. About 1,400 miles on it.

I drove my car to work last night and it was fine, but I got off of work just now and turned the car on only to see a "TIGHTEN FUEL CAP" message displayed on my i-MID. I have not fueled up in about 4 days and am sitting at a bar over half a tank. I took off the fuel cap completely and put it back on a few times and checked to see if the message went away, but it did not. The owner's manual said to check and make sure the cap was on correctly which I did, but other than that, I do not know what else to do. Has anyone else had this problem? I do not want to take it to a dealer only for them to tell me it will go away on its own. Then again, what if they have to do a pressure test on my fuel lines? Or something along those lines and they find something wrong? Help!

MindBomber

With the car turned off, disconnect the battery by taking the removing the negative terminal, wait at least 10 seconds, re-attach it, start the car. That should clear it, if not visit the dealer, because that would indicate the problem still exists.

Gunner

You will also most likely have to reset your radio when you do this too, but you should have a sticker on your glove box or in your manual with your code on it..

its a 2012 and its covered under warranty so you should not have to pay for any problems related to fuel issues..if above method does not work then a sensor could be bad which is on the dealer not you....

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

try a new cap under warranty.

ezone

Do NOT replace the gas cap yourself, it is under warranty. Take it off, turn it over and look at the rubber seal. If it is torn, go to the dealer. If not, then read on...

Everything you need to know about that warning is in the owners manual. Read it (RTFM). If you don't understand what it says and means, then repost here.

If the cap was loose, then tighten it and drive the car normally, the light will go out after a few drive cycles. Read the manual.

If your gas cap seal is torn (take a look at it), then that's a problem. Go to the dealer, it is under warranty.

.....But---Your gas cap is ok and tight, right? Ok. There is apparently an issue, BUT there isn't a fix for it yet as of this evening. Read on.....

Honda is apparently aware of the seal getting torn on the gas cap, there is a service message on the tech website about that.
Honda is also aware that some of these cars turn on the warning message without having a loose gas cap, there was a message about it last week.
Both of these issues are currently under investigation, as far as I know. No fix has been announced that I have heard so far.

I would:
Visit your dealer so the complaint is documented, and do it before the message goes away.
If the check engine light comes on because of this, the dealer may want to keep the car (IF anyone at the dealer checked their messages on the Honda site....I just looked at the site, the message is no longer there so it may not apply now).

If the car passes the self test on the next run in which the car performs its self test, the message will disappear by itself. Read your manual.


Hondas messages to dealers indicates to me that the complaints are currently under investigation.
The messages said they want to inspect certain cars that meet certain criteria. That does NOT mean that every car will be inspected by Honda.


My own 2012 Civic has turned on the CHECK GAS CAP message once so far about 3 weeks ago. My guess is it is either a false positive during an evap self test, or a software bug. Hopefully I will know more soon.

Hope that helps.

Gunner

It wouldn't surprise me if its a software bug.. I hope they can figure out what it is but things rely on computers to much now a days IMO.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i agree. the more complicated they make these cars, the more there is to break down. they keep taking away manual parts in favor of electric versions.

Gunner

Yup even the car companies are in the technology race now a days.

ezone

Sad that the only part of the technology an appliance user can see or appreciate is their car is now a rolling iPOD....then they get all upset that their particular music storage device isn't compatible with the system in their car...
The display already told the user that their iThingy was incompatible. And they still bring it in and complain.
"I'm really sorry that you can't comprehend that message there, snowflake."
(Yes, this happened yesterday. No, I didn't get to say that.)

....Same goes for cell phones.

Like there aren't already enough distractions on the dashboard.

Just wait, it will get worse.

Gunner

^ LOL I am sure it will..

hbhargava

I bought a 2012 honda civic 10 days ago, and today i see a tighten fuel cap message, i am coming from the toyota corolla world with the opinion that hondas are better quality, I am not sure if anyone has seen a conclusion to similar problem, if they have please post the end result or email me .
thanks

ezone

Make SURE the gas cap is tight! If it is, then take it to the dealer ASAP before the message disappears. Warranty.


If the cap is not tight, or that little strap is caught in the neck, then correct the issue and the light will go out in a couple of drive cycles. (Usually a day or two, depending on driving habits. See the owners manual.)

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

If you have something similar on the 2012 look for the "reset" button and press it.

My 2010 will sometimes give this message if it is cooler and sits in the garage, then I open the garage door and the sun shines on the back of the car for a bit before I drive.

I can just press reset.

ezone

Well, yeah. We can press the "i" button (or the menu button? One of them...) on the imid/radio controls on the steering wheel to get rid of the message temporarily.

EddieBH

Dealer just shrugged their shoulders when I inquired about this problem on my 2006 Civic EX. I now have a 2013 Civic EX-L with 3500 miles on it and this morning the darn "Tighten Fuel Cap" message appeared on my NEW car. Apparently this is a chronic Honda p[problem they refuse to address. I am going to make a fuss at the dealership and also communicate with Honda. Lots aof people are having this problem and it needs to be addressed. I will post my results.

supesman

Gas cap message appeared on my 2013 Honda Civic LX also that it was not tightened. The car is smart. It even knows when seatbelts are not on, emergency brake is not released, key is in ignition, doors are open, etc. It happened after about 3000 miles. Maybe when you tighten it, it has to go through cycle before it turns off. I will look into it.

ezone

Yes it does, the system can't detect right away if you fixed it. The owners manual explains this a little more.

Give it a couple of days of driving to run its self tests. The engine has to cool down and meet some certain criteria in order to perform the next self test, sitting overnight usually will get the test to begin.

supesman

message went away after restarting car when I left work. Never happened since.

brags

that's true. I hate all the computer crap they put on todays cars what
ever happened to owning a simple car.? simple was replaced by complicated electronic computer crap.

ezone

Engineers have to make a living too.