Vacuum Leak (Eaton Swap)

[jwibbity]

As you guys know last tuesday my wife hit the curb and destroyed the front right rim. She drove the car back home, about 30 miles, on the freeway. Got a new(used) rim and was able to salvage the tire. So I go to start the car this morning and the idle is terrible. I take a look at my vacuum gauge and I'm only at 12-13 in/HG, which is alot lower than the 17-18 in/HG I'm usually sitting at.

So I figured ok maybe the accident knocked something loose and I just need to find a hose, pop it back on, and I'm good. Nope not the case, checked driver side pcv hoses, passenger side, catch can, nothing...so the wife drives me to work in the Sonata and I don't think anymore of it.

First off I'll go over my pcv set up. Driver side valve cover goes to the catch can then routes over to intake tube, right behind the MAF. Passenger side has the pcv valve and goes to the back of the Eaton.

So through further diagnosis using my Big Dripper PV (personal vaporizer) and blowing smoke through both valve covers I found that the hose coming from the catch can was leaking, through a hose clamp on and went to start the car, now I 'm at 15in/HG and still a *****y idle and eventually the car stalls and dies.

So onto the passenger side, I take the intake tube off, plug up the holes in the throttle body for the IAC and blow smoke through the back of the blower, no leaks anywhere.

So as I'm cutting the car off again I hear a hissing coming from the passenger side valve cover, somewhere in the rear. I know its not the RAS compressor because not only is it on the driver side but I still had the driver side door open. Im tugging and rubbing (hehehehehehe) on all the hoses back there trying to find the leak but I got nothing. It sounds like its coming from the heater box thing with the two coolant lines running to it that sits on the passenger side firewall.

Is there any other way beside the smoke test to find vacuum leaks?? maybe some more places to blow smoke in?? I'm off work for the next 3 days so I will be able to try all and any suggestions instantly.

Thanks!!!

[jwibbity]

Cleaned IAC also, no change......

[8UWITH6]

Did you change the oil?

[jwibbity]

Did you change the oil?

Which brand of oil should I use?!?!

[Zack]

Maybe it's an ignition problem or injector unplugged

[jwibbity]

So inertia/ fuel shut off is still down reset it just to be sure
checked all wires and connectors under the hood, no loose connectors
No CEL's and no codes from my XCAL 3 scanner.

Will try and start car in the morning, the neighborhood is kinda quiet right now at 2330, lol

I did however find a connector not plugged into a damn thing right behind the passenger side valve cover, it is a 6 pin connector and connects into the harness that runs down the passenger side valve cover (fuel injectors, FRPS, etc..), no open connectors any where in the area and I've honestly never seen it before....

*EDIT* Old EGR Connector

[jwibbity]

Maybe it's an ignition problem or injector unplugged

checked injector connectors all good, except for the random connector I found above, ^^^^, that ties into the fuel injector harness right below the S/C elbow
*EDIT* Connector is for EGR that is no longer there....

more info on the ignition problem please??

the car starts almost normal but as soon as the rpms come down to idle speed it sounds and idles like crap :confused:

[8UWITH6]

Unplug MAF the next step? Or is that an old school approach that doesnt work with these cars?

Zack? Info bro ;)

[MOTOWN]

Sounds like your IAC has taken a crap!

[Marauderjack]

I vote for the IAC valve too......clean it and see whatcha have then!!:confused:

[martyo]

Jordan, when is a good time to call you?

[jwibbity]

Jordan, when is a good time to call you?

right meow, lol

[jwibbity]

Just tried a brand new IAC, no change.......:(:(

[Marauderjack]

Damn....now I've been wrong twice in my life!!:mad2:

When it idles does it spit and pop or just rough?? Also, does the exhaust sound rough and pop some??

[jwibbity]

Damn....now I've been wrong twice in my life!!:mad2:

When it idles does it spit and pop or just rough?? Also, does the exhaust sound rough and pop some??

The idle is just rough....then as it starts to die after a couple of minutes the rpms start to surge then it stalls....

The exhaust feels and sounds normal....

[Zack]

The idle is just rough....then as it starts to die after a couple of minutes the rpms start to surge then it stalls....

The exhaust feels and sounds normal....

There could be a bad coil, or the dreaded dropped valve seat.

Pull the plugs and see if any look different from the rest.

[Jeffonebuck]

As you guys know last tuesday my wife hit the curb and destroyed the front right rim. She drove the car back home, about 30 miles, on the freeway. Got a new(used) rim and was able to salvage the tire. So I go to start the car this morning and the idle is terrible. I take a look at my vacuum gauge and I'm only at 12-13 in/HG, which is alot lower than the 17-18 in/HG I'm usually sitting at.

So I figured ok maybe the accident knocked something loose and I just need to find a hose, pop it back on, and I'm good. Nope not the case, checked driver side pcv hoses, passenger side, catch can, nothing...so the wife drives me to work in the Sonata and I don't think anymore of it.

First off I'll go over my pcv set up. Driver side valve cover goes to the catch can then routes over to intake tube, right behind the MAF. Passenger side has the pcv valve and goes to the back of the Eaton.

So through further diagnosis using my Big Dripper PV (personal vaporizer) and blowing smoke through both valve covers I found that the hose coming from the catch can was leaking, through a hose clamp on and went to start the car, now I 'm at 15in/HG and still a *****y idle and eventually the car stalls and dies.

So onto the passenger side, I take the intake tube off, plug up the holes in the throttle body for the IAC and blow smoke through the back of the blower, no leaks anywhere.

So as I'm cutting the car off again I hear a hissing coming from the passenger side valve cover, somewhere in the rear. I know its not the RAS compressor because not only is it on the driver side but I still had the driver side door open. Im tugging and rubbing (hehehehehehe) on all the hoses back there trying to find the leak but I got nothing. It sounds like its coming from the heater box thing with the two coolant lines running to it that sits on the passenger side firewall.

Is there any other way beside the smoke test to find vacuum leaks?? maybe some more places to blow smoke in?? I'm off work for the next 3 days so I will be able to try all and any suggestions instantly.

Thanks!!!


You said normal vac was 17-18 normally and now you are at (15) after repairing the line at catch can. Sounds like it could still be worth retracing the vac lines and maybe plastic parts that could of cracked related to the impact

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Thought normal vacuum was 21? Seems to be what my gauge sits at when idle.

[Zack]

Anything other than 19-21 and there is a leak or a bad component causing low vacuum.

[jwibbity]

You said normal vac was 17-18 normally and now you are at (15) after repairing the line at catch can. Sounds like it could still be worth retracing the vac lines and maybe plastic parts that could of cracked related to the impact

Before all this happened my normal vacuum was at 17-18 in/Hg
When I first started troubleshooting this I was at 12-13, and after finding a small leak and throwing a hose clamp on the catch can I'm sitting at 15in/HG

[jwibbity]

There could be a bad coil, or the dreaded dropped valve seat.

Pull the plugs and see if any look different from the rest.

going to pull the plugs now while my laptop charges so I can hopefully drive around and datalog the car

[jwibbity]

drove the car around the neighborhood a little bit, was talking to Jeff at Mo's and I was datalogging short term fuel trim for both bank 1 and bank 2, along with fuel rail pressure..

I had an average of .98% on both sides with maxes around 1.1 to 1.3%

Fuel rail pressure stayed pretty steady at 55 psi

Vacuum is still at ~15in/Hg , but the car is no longer stalling, just rough idle

While driving A/F ratio is still jumping all over the place from 11.0 now all the way up to 17.0 when I left off the gas

[Marauderjack]

Compression test may tell the story??:confused:

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Is your charging system fine? A connection could have loosened with the impact.

[jwibbity]

There could be a bad coil, or the dreaded dropped valve seat.

Pull the plugs and see if any look different from the rest.

Pulled all plugs yesterday, they all looked exactly the same

[jwibbity]

Is your charging system fine? A connection could have loosened with the impact.

Double checked all grounds and battery connections, everything is nice and tight!

[jwibbity]

Compression test may tell the story??:confused:

Yea I'm thinking I'll need some shop tools for this unfortunately....

[jwibbity]

So as of right now the idle has somewhat returned to normal, A/F is no longer jumping all over the place, car no longer stalls or cuts off. This is after replacing IAC, replacing hose clamp on throttle body, and putting a hose clamp on the catch can return line.

Vacuum gauge in the car is still reading 15in/Hg but I haven't had time to rip apart the dash and figure out why, vacuum under the hood is sitting at a normal 20in/Hg

I decided to drive the car down to the airport last monday when I was leaving to go to Miami and definitely noticed the car definitely sounds a lot different on the highway, especially in the left lane next to the concrete medium. I'm guessing the "accident" may have knocked something loose in the exhaust. Will find a reputable exhaust shop to check for any leaks sometime this week.

The car is driveable but sounds like ****..