A few months ago, I was in my car when suddenly I noticed the dreaded check engine light came on. Immediately I started to think of all the things that this could be, hoping it would be an easy fix. A few days later I was able to stop in at an auto parts store and do a diagnostic test to see if I could get an idea of what was going on. The result showed I had a bad purge valve. When the purge valve fails, it sticks open and will create a vacuum leak that can affect the engine