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Date:         Mon, 27 Feb 1995 13:44:06 CST6CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Dan Houg" <fairwind@northernnet.com>
Subject:      Tracing Vacuum Leaks/brakes

Since I was the one who got on the soap-box, I'll offer some suggestions I've found useful in tracing various vacuum leaks.

1. Stick a hose in your ear. Really. By placing a section of heater hose or nearly anything, including a tube from a roll of paper towels, against your ear it makes your hearing in that one ear very directional.. With the unhosed ear plugged (picture me with one hand over one ear, a section of heater hose sticking out the other :) sweep across the suspect areas until the hiss is loudest then start homing in. Do this in the parking lot of K-Mart and watch the looks you get.

2. Put a few psi air pressure into the vacuum hose system. I've discussed this one before but essentially hook up a regulated air hose dialed down to a few psi, into your vacuum system and listen for leaks and use that squirt bottle of soap water to spray hoses, parts, etc. Use caution with this method if you have a vehicle with vacuum servo doors in the heating/cooling system as it may inflate the bellows designed for a negative pressure, not a positive one. The brake booster often has a check valve in-line so this may not reveal a leak in that device.

3. Systematically, remove the vacuum hose connection from devices and plug the end of the hose to remove that device from the vacuum circuit. Golf tees work nice for plugging vacuum lines.

4. Use a vacuum gauge. This ends up being your 'test meter' and have a nice assortment of "T" fittings, hose pieces, and other adapters. This is one of those 'tools' you accumulate thru the years and it keeps getting better as you fill out your fittings box.

5. I don't like the flammable liquids/gases method. Some people spray carb cleaner, use propane, or even starting fluid (ether) to spray around while the engine is running to notice an RPM difference. You're on your own with this one. I've seen too many bad experiences with ether, benzene and other organic solvents in the chem lab to go spraying them around a hot engine. (Got a great story re: benzene, sink traps, a row of 5 chem sinks, and an open flame...)

-dan


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