All we need to find vacuum leaks in a complex engine is a smoke machine that works. All it needs to do is... a. Emit lots of smoke that won't clog up an engine when it condenses, and, b. Constantly push that smoke at a couple of psi for about a half hour.
We made a smoke machine to work on a friend's kid's old bimmer but the smoke machine we made failed to generate enough smoke. And now I need a smoke machine.
It seems so simple, and yes, we've seen the "cigar in a can" and "burning rags in a can" videos but they all have problems of not generating enough smoke for a long enough period of time.
Our machine generates smoke for a long time but not enough smoke! :(
It's 3 holes in a new paint can with glycerin in a soup can inside.
The top has a 12VDC diesel glow plug which gets red hot. It is stuck into the glycerin in a soup can. That generates the smoke.
We push that smoke out regulated at about 3 psi with an air gun mounted on the side.
There's just not enough smoke.
Do you know what fluid would generate more non-sticky smoke? Or do you know of a hundred dollar smoke machine that can do the two thing? a. Emit lots of smoke that won't clog up an engine when it condenses, and, b. Constantly push that smoke at a couple of psi for about a half hour.