mustbeaudi

An employee here probably has a hard to detect vacuum leak on her Passat, one that a mechanic did not visually detect last week. My lead diesel mechanic says he selectively uses brake cleaner spray on a cold engine to hear if it gets taken in at suspected points of entry by listening and looking for engine idle performance changes (caused when it enters the intake stream). Any other ideas?

yrk2.7t@curbside

Throttle body or carb cleaner works well too. Engine will increase in speed when you hit the leak

Ex-PzKW Cdr

Chlorinated cleaners "Brake cleaner" Trichlorothanes and the like, produce HIGHLY poisonous gases on burning! Use carb cleaner or WD40, or PB blaster. Just be careful of flashover using carb cleaner. Don't ask how I know.

Trango

I'm a bigger fan of the mechanic's stethoscope, or the ghetto version of a tube stuck in one ear, listening for air flow.

That said, I've heard of either non-chlor brake fluid or carb/choke/throttlebody cleaner be used for this same effect.

Trango

And, it may raise MPG! Acetone!

Link to MSDS on a sample n-c bc.<ul><li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/2222744/Lawson-Products-Inc-Nonchlorinated-brake-cleaner">http://www.scribd.com/doc/2222744/Lawson-Products-Inc-Nonchlorinated-brake-cleaner</a</li></ul>

CHof

Some are non flamable (chlorinated cleaners - CRC brakleen for one). These chemicals are also potentially damaging to thermoplastics, and emit hazardous gases when heated and worse when combusted.

Other things to use: ether (starting fluid), propane from an unlit torch.

Safety first, be prepared for fire, have an extinguisher at your side.

NJAllroad

unlit of course. A section of rubber hose with a metal tube inserted in the end will allow you to direct the propane into tight areas. A fender cover can be used to shield this effort from any air being blown around by the cooling fan.

y'allroad

that's where all of my work is done.

1 - lots of oil changes - each one leaves a little less of an oil spot on the road

2 - miltek cat-back install - this took place over the course of a week. i ran into some "problems" during the install [read: missing tools, rain, darkness]

3 - a6 ABS module removal and reinstall - only left a huge pool of windshield fluid on the road - sadly it didn't wash away the oil spots...

i'm hoping to borrow my friend's garage for the hitch install. however, i haven't completely ruled out the street yet. j.

Ex-PzKW Cdr

What really sucks is the non chloro, doesn't work anywhere near as well, cleaning brakes

yrk2.7t@curbside

LOL yes sir, is there any other way? =)