Hello,
Does the automotive area have any equipment for leak detection, like a “smoke” machine or similar device? If not, does anyone know of an inexpensive one I could buy that would work reasonably well? I’ve considered building one, but that would be a last resort due to the time consumption.
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In the old days, we used a Mityvac with a cigarette in the intake. Can’t “recommend” it, but it does work. Both mityvacs and cigarettes have gotten uncheap, too.
But this knockoff from harbor freight isn’t too bad, and maybe you have a friend who still smokes?
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One could always use sage or some other dried herb to produce smoke…
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Would this item: https://www.harborfreight.com/brake-fluid-bleeder-92924.html
Be able to work as a substitute for that other Harbor Freight item? Has much better reviews. Other one seems to be prone to breaking on first use
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Wave it around and drive the evil away.
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Not easily, I think. The mityvac & knockoffs are just air pumps, so you connect pressure to one side (the line you’re testing in this case) and vacuum to the other (atmosphere in this case). Then pump. It moves air from the vacuum side to the pressure side. If you put smoke into the vacuum side, it gets pumped into the pressure side.
Because that one uses compressed air on a venturi to draw a vacuum. I don’t think there’s an easy way to inject smoke into the circuit. But probably someone else will come chime in with how wrong i am, and we’ll both learn something…
Mightyvac with a cig or cigar seems like a reasonable option compared to spending ~$150-250 on of those dedicated smoke machines
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Sure. Any number of ways to make smoke. Cigarettes are just one very popular delivery method that come pre configured in handy dandy drawthrough configuration. But certainly there are others. Some are more drawthrough friendly than others, but i guess a good bong, shisha, hookah, or similar could make most anything drawthrough…
I could have sworn auto once had a mityvac around for just this use, but it’s probably long since disappeared.
On a related note, does anyone have a fuel pressure gauge?
I’ve always rented fuel pressure gauges from O’Reilly’s, AutoZone or other auto parts stores. I’m sure they aren’t the most precise thing in the world but they worked well enough for me to tune my T/A.
Regarding the leak checker, I’ve been meaning to buy one of the mineral oil paint can rigs. They seem like a cheap effective solution, though I’ve never used one myself.
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Thanks, those are some good tips. Didnt know the fuel pressure gauges could be rented. Have a somewhat random intermittent long crank time that I think could possibly be a lazy fuel pump or bad regulator or injector
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How old is car? A reader may tell you the pressure on the rail.
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Van is 2012. Fuel rail pressure doesnt show for whatever reason. Shows on my 2014 truck (with my scanner), but not on the van oddly
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I own one of those smoke machines, and had it at the space for a while until someone connected it to a vacuum line and it crushed the can. Let me know if you want to borrow it.
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I think you are going down the right path….my friend’s issue last month, with a similar symptom, was a lazy fuel pump.
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Checked the pressure on the fuel rail with a rental test gauge and readings looked normal. After that used some injector cleaner products in the gas tank which led to a big improvement in the startup time, but still not completely normal. P219A comes and goes. Emissions readiness monitors reset to “not ready” everytime i turn off the engine, which is abnormal
Out of curiosity, have you noticed a loss in overall power from the engine at all?
Sluggish, lower fuel milage?
Power is normal, fuel economy (ecu measured) about normal. Maybe 0.5-1mpg below what i would expect
Andrew, I have a suspicion that it is less of an effect from fuel additives and more related to fuel level. When the fuel sock gets dirty it lets less fuel to the pump pick-up mostly at lower fuel levels. Is there a starting difference when you have a full tank vs very close to empty tank?