Toyota Repair: 2000 Toyota Camry Check Engine Light, emission control system, toyota camry

Question
Ted,

I have a 2000 Toyota Camry with 100000 miles and it is a four cylinder.  The check Engine light just came on and I had it diagnosed at AutoZone.  It came  back with: P0446 The Pcm has determinted that a malfunction exists in the Electrical Circuit for the vent control in the Evaporative Emission Control System.

I know in a previous message you said to get a Toyota Tech. involved but i also wanted to know if this is a critical problem or just when I go to get my emissions tested I will have problems?  Thanks

Answer
The most common cause for this code is that the gas cap was left loose or left off after getting gas, make sure to check it first.
This is strictly emission control related and has no effect on driveability.
The car will not pass the emission control smog test with the check engine light on so try to have it fixed, if the loose gas cap was not the problem, if the cap was loose the light will not reset to off until the scantool is used to clear the codes.