Check engine light P0498 (Evap wiring issue & soluton -- check yours)

First off I don't want anyone to think this is a normal problem.
I just had a car come in the shop with a check engine light. P0498 Evap valve circuit. The wires at the lh rear of the car are broken where they go up behind the bumper cover. Easy fix, I didn't bother taking to the dealer. I used a few layers of shrink tubing and wrapped the wires in thick rubber hose to prevent this from happening again. I highly doubt this would be a problem for most other people as this car seems to be driven places most people wouldn't take their cars. The car only has 18000kms on it. I'll post pics when I get a chance.

Oh and to clear the check engine light, I didn't bother using a scanner. I just started and shut off the car 5-6 times and the light went out.

Do you think a rodent chewed them? Or a stick got up there and tore them?

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Originally Posted by Daox

Do you think a rodent chewed them? Or a stick got up there and tore them?

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No, it's from being blasted with crap from back roads. The plastic coating on the e-brake cables is completely gone where they go into the backing plates. The little plates that bolt to the bottom of the trailing axle below the shocks are getting hammered too.

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Wow I sure hope their brake lines hold up.

Brake lines seem fine, they seem out of the line of fire.
I'm able to track where the car has been and how fast it goes. Turns out it's been driven between 95-116kph on unpaved roads. I'm gonna blame the driver for the problems with this car. I'll let you know how everything is holding up in 6000km, which will probably be next month.

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Originally Posted by Fummins

Brake lines seem fine, they seem out of the line of fire.
I'm able to track where the car has been and how fast it goes. Turns out it's been driven between 95-116kph on unpaved roads. I'm gonna blame the driver for the problems with this car. I'll let you know how everything is holding up in 6000km, which will probably be next month.

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Dang, didn't know that auto parts delivery was training for rally driving!

Wow wish i had unpaved roads like that near me lol

Good job fixing it yourself.

Did you see the wires hanging and just get lucky?

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Originally Posted by MightyMirageMpg

Wow wish i had unpaved roads like that near me lol

Good job fixing it yourself.

Did you see the wires hanging and just get lucky?

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Yeah I got lucky, if I didn't figure it out fast enough it was going to the dealership down the road. I doubt they would have warrantied this job though.

Great! Probably right. That cable wear is impressive

I just had a similar problem with another car with 164xxxkms. Threw the same code P0498. The connector that plugs into the vent solenoid at the charcoal canister was cracked and corroded so badly that I couldn't get it unplugged so I just replaced the evap solenoid and pigtail with one from the parts car. This car is in the country a lot but is holding up well.

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I can't get my phone to focus properly but here's the problem. Easy fix.

Mitsubishi should contract with you to torture test Mirages! You're really putting them through the wringer and it's good to see how few problems you have. I really appreciate all the updates and real world experiences your fleet has.

These delivery cars get a lot more miles/abuse than most mirage's get. They are good test mule's. Hopefully the few problems I find with them can be prevented or easily fixed by others down the road. I can't stand it when I google a problem to find others post online with the same issue/symptoms then they never end up posting what the fix was.

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Originally Posted by Fummins

The connector that plugs into the vent solenoid at the charcoal canister was cracked and corroded so badly that I couldn't get it unplugged so I just replaced the evap solenoid and pigtail with one from the parts car.

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Is that located at the rear of the car under the spare tire compartment, exposed to all that the road has to offer?

I wonder if this should be made weatherproof.

It does have a bit of a metal skid plate under it and the plug faces the rear of the car so it's fairly protected. Both of these cars are from the same town and use more gravel roads than most. I don't see it being a big issue for most owners. But adding a few extra wraps of electrical tape around the wires from the valve to the behind the bumper wouldn't hurt.

Now I have another car with the same code. It's a 17 with 30000kms it's from the same location as the other 2 cars but I don't see any broken wires this time. It still has warranty and the mitsu dealer is just a few blocks away. I'll drop it off soon and keep you posted.

Thanks for all the updates Fummins!

Turns out the connector was corroded inside at the evap solenoid. They just replaced the pigtail. I'll have to start pulling the plugs on these cars and sealing them better.

This is fantastic info, Fummins.

I agree: hate when people post problems, but not the solutions!

And another car threw a p0498. 1 wire was broken behind the plastic loom below the back bumper. 2017 with 158k kms.

And I have another 2017 with the same P0498. Wiring at the rear of the car looks good. One wire(white) has voltage with the key on at least so I assume the solenoid is triggered by a switched ground(brown wire). I'm wondering if the wiring for this is in on of the problem child kick panel connectors? But that's not as common a problem in the 2017's.

Off to find a wiring schematic. And trace this stupid wire up to the front of the car. This car has been throwing the same code for months now and I figured I'll try to fix it while the driver is on holidays.


And....it looks like that brown wires turns to brown/wht at connector c-118. Then goes to the ecu at pin 71. Now to figure out where the hell c-118 is. I don't have that info. I'll just guess.

And another update....
When I pulled the kick panel off I discovered I've been in there before and wrapped the harness with duct tape. It looked fancy.
I have no idea which connector has that vent valve wire. There are a few with brown and brown/wht wires in the connectors. I started unwrapping the electrical tape where I soldered a bunch of wires together and wrapped them up. I found some green powder and a red wire that was still oem(not soldered) was ready to break and hanging on by a thread. It pulled apart easily. I'm glad I found that! The car wouldn't start once that wire was completely broken....
I ended up unplugging all the connectors at the kick panel and hooked power to the ground/trigger wire at the back of the car using a car battery that I grounded to the trunk catch. I tried finding power at a brown and brown/wht wire at the kick panel and came of with nothing. There are a few brown wires that go under the drivers seat. Next step is to tear the seat out and check out there. I know there are a few bus bar style connector caps that just connect wires at the end of the connector (for some weird reason). I had a car have one of them rust out and short out once.

Will post back later with what I find. Probably.

It's like hunting for easter eggs! But less fun and no chocolate!

I'm pretty sure I found some chocolate in there. Some of these cars are pretty nasty inside. Beef jerky, nail clippings, boogers......

Everything looked fine under the seat though. So back to the rear of the car....I looked way up where the harness goes through a grommet into the hatch area behind the bumper and found the a tiny bit of green...Poked it with the screwmadriver and found a broken purple wire(license plate light?) and what looks like a broken brown wire.

So I tore a bunch of the car apart searching in the wrong spot. The harness typically breaks down low where it's exposed. First time for everything I guess.

I'm just glad I found that one wire(Up behind the kick panel) ready to break that would have left the thing stranded who knows where. So I'll get that soldered up, tape up all the wires that I probed under the door sill plate. I'll have to remove the rear bumper cover to repair or replace the rear wiring harness as there's just no access otherwise.

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YIKES.

Given how (relatively) rusty my current Mirage is, I should inspect a few wires/connectors. I haven't even looked behind the kick panel yet.