Vacuum leaks are one of the biggest causes of engine performance problems. This video is pretty straight forward in it’s approach to finding a vacuum leak. On thing I might mention is that not all vacuum leaks are at the engine. Some HVAC systems run on engine vacuum and can cause a leak under the dash in some cases. I’ve even seen vacuum operated door locks. Just be sure to be careful spraying flammable stuff on a hot engine, you don’t want to take one problem and make it a whole lot worse. You can also use a spray bottle with water to do this same test. It may not be as effective, but you don’t have to worry about spraying a flammable substance on a hot engine.
For more information on diagnosing engine performance issues, check out this article I wrote.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
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How about if the car starts but idles really low then stalls, can't stay running and no response when stepping on gas pedal…already changed fuel pump, filter, injectors and pressure regulator on 3rd gen 4runner with the v6 5vzfe engine
Lmao it’s so much fun
This WILL cause a fire on a hot engine lol. Pain in the A cleaning afterwards
Dude I need this man to look at my car haha
Maybe you’ve addressed this somewhere else in the 1,800 comments or another video, but you said a vacuum leaks causes “rich” conditions, isn’t it the opposite? Too much air being sucked in by a vacuum leak causes a lean fuel mixture with not enough gas? Or does the ECU overcompensate by injecting too much fuel, causing rich conditions?
10 years? This was the first vid I found of Eric's.
Safety first🤣 cold engine check🤣
Can that vacuum leak sound like a low whine ? I have a 2009 Dodge Ram hemi and I can hear a small whine while driving. And when coming to a stop my rpms drop to 500rpm which is not right. It’s stalled a few times too but not much. Other than that drives great. I can correct the rpms bc tapping the gas. And also if the a/c is on it stays at 750rpm like it should. What’s the deal?
could hear the whistle sound on the engine in the vide:)
Use wd-40
WD-40 does the same thing and is non flammable
Eric I love your video so much. Thank you for the caution 👍
Thanks for the info on fuel trims. Still learning how they work but as I am running lean I'm leaning to dirty MAF as I could of been better about filter changes and I think the last one was a K&N… or Low fuel pressure.
Good idea with the propane. Thanks for the tip Eric.
when he said performance issues i thought i clicked on the wrong video for a second…
Good
dumb me sprayed bloody carb cleaner,or the flammable one into the pvc hole 😂😜, Go Start,BANG!!! LoL flames came out of every intake crack,and didn't do anything to the engine now that's one idiot 😃, started Still going strong, unbelievable shit,what a donkey,never choof When working on car, mighty Ford Falcon au XR6 vct,🤨
Read about what JESUS did this is mine blowing. Can you believe this, did you ever hear of this about HIM
Romans 10:5/10, c u there
$$🧐yeah…
I may have written about what's going on with my car but I'll rehash . 2016SE 2.0L 4 cylinder engine Someone messed up my timing when replacing timing cover . Wouldn't start much less run . Was starting and runing before this hack got his hands on it . So after several other hacks told me it was this or that wasting time and money i found someone whao was at least semi competent and honest and reasonaly priced . He got it running but when I picked up car test drove it and found it was stalling hesistating when accelarating and told him so and said if it gets much worse I'd bring it back . It's not that much worse but twice check engine light turned on . Had it scanned three times . First at Auto Zone and another at O'Reillys and third at a shop and sthey said it's throwing randome misfires code but no numbers / percentages just blank .Once I changed plugs because that's what that honest mechanic that got it working again in the first place . And that's what auto Zone recomended . Check light turned off . CAme back on a few weeks later and did a kind of reboot by taking off these new plugs checking gap again and unplugging both negative and positve battery cables for half an hour . Light turned off trhe second time and seemed to get a lil better withg satlling lagging but presently no engine light is on but staling lagging now back . Not terribly pronounced but still . ..
Insurance company: "you did WHAT!?"..
I can see this could go wrong in so many ways.
I heard that high pitch sound the and my truck runs rich, please god i hope this is the issue
2021 still great info
Cool can vacuum leak be same sounding problem as coil replacement
Tyou
I have a 2008 Ford Focus with 218000 kms. I first noticed I had an issue when I went to turn on my heater in my car and it wasnt heating the air. Then I noticed when I had my vents shooting at me, that the air would be hot then cool down and not get hot again. Third, when I was making a delivery and I got out of my car, I heard a hissing sound coming from under the hood, and upon inspection, its blowing out some sort of liquid in a steam fashion. I know where the problem is emanating from, but I have no idea what it could be! Now, I'm wondering if I can still drive my car and go to the auto wreckers to purchase the part which the leak is coming from or is it safer to have the car towed to the mechanic. I want to avoid going to a mechanic cause its gonna cost me over 100 to fix and I'm on a real budget crunch; I would rather do it myself, since I can see the origin of the problem, it's not soo deep in the engine it's inaccessible to me and I would like to save money on it! Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Good advice without any BS. Thanks
I am soo lost with my car, I have tried this method with no success, I am not 100% sure if I an hearing the motor run or a vaccum leak, I have checked the iac and that seems to be OK, what happens is I drive the car and when I come to a stop the car idles high for 10-15 sec before coming down to normal idle and from my spark plugs it looks like it is running lean, all the heads are burning white, iac and iacv are both shiny and clean on the inside and seem to all be working, the ecu is giving me no codes. I noticed this car bogged and died, I will try for that tomorrow, but do you have any advice?
What was he spraying on that stalled it? Anyone?
The hell with my 1994 Ford Ranger. Vacuum leaks left and right. Huge headache for me because I know absolutely nothing about maintenance on a truck. For sale. Who wants it ?? Back to riding the bus for me. 😭
Thanks mate, this was very helpful . Cheers bloke. 👍
I love this dude he’s so funny and you’re a man of many different look your look changes all the time I’m never positive if it’s Eric the car guy I watched a video about you and talking about education do have have a very extensive vocabulary acclimated is a big word many people don’t understand or use much ! Have learned a lot from your videos thank you
that will end up in a museum
"That would make for kinda a bad day" , love this guy, so true!
You the man, thanks Eric👍👍👍
Why didn't you recommend a smoke machine or a homemade version of one?
Take a drag off a cigar blow smoke into a vacuum hose look for smoke to come out another place on the motor some shops has a machine that pumps smoke into the motor
Watching this video I had one thought…"Yo, Adrian!"
Eric, what if the high pitched whine occurs when the engine is shutdown? Turn key, engine off, whine. Is this still a suspected vacuum leak? Thank you.