How do I manually turn off the "Service Engine Soon" light on a 2000 Pontiac...

[Jana Miller]

How do I manually turn off the "Service Engine Soon" light on a 2000 Pontiac...

...Grand AM? I need to manually turn off the light in my 2000 Pontiac Grand AM, which says "Service Engine Soon." I have heard methods involving disconnecting the battery, but I don't think that works on cars after 1996. There is also the "Change Oil Light", which I have figured out to turn off, but I need specifically the "Service Engine Soon" light.
1) I am not trying to sell my car
2) I know the code and am in process of fixing it
3) the code is p0442 and a new gas cap is on.
4) I have taken it to autozone but they could not reset the code for me (i dont know why)

5) most important detail - I am trying to SAVE MONEY by doing it myself before having to bring into dealership. Most dealerships over charge!!

 

[Puntiac00]

Take your car to a local shop and ask them to turn it off ofr you, they shouldn't charge you anything. You can explain to them that you had the fault code pulled by Auto Zone or whomever and you replaced the bad gas cap and now need it reset.

 

[brothergc]

po442 is not just limited to the gas cap

The problem could be anything pertaining to sealing the evap system. Gas cap, Filler tube, fuel sender gasket, crack in the evap hoses, evap test port, evap canister, or canister purge valve.
This code sets when the system is not able to hold a vacuum for a specified amount of time.
Just clearing the code is not the answer and even if you clear the code , if not fixed will come back on , possibley auto zone could not clear the code because if the problem is say a purge valve , it just will not clear as the problem is still present . You need to fix the problem and if after a number of engine run and off cycles the code will self clear . Me I bought a cheep scanner for about 200 bucks , they do come in handy !