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General => IHADAV8 Playground => Topic started by: tb3 on November 16 2014, 09:50:10 PM

Title: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: tb3 on November 16 2014, 09:50:10 PM
just heard of this.
apperantly you can find vacuum leaks by turning on a propane torch (without lighting it), and run it along each vacuum line while the engines running, and when it speeds up or stumbles, you've found the leak.
anybody tried this?
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: The Radius Kid on November 16 2014, 10:55:39 PM
Eeyup,I've heard of it.
I don't know if I'd want to be shooting an uncontrolled,flammable gas around an engine compartment though.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: earlbrown on November 17 2014, 02:36:26 AM
Heard of it, but I've never done it. No idea if it works better than spraying brake parts cleaner all under the hood.


Also heard of people using it to test 02 sensors. The science is that if you shoot propane down the intake tract, the 02 should o rich.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: Steve Wood on November 17 2014, 10:48:48 AM
I have done it...figure it was safer than spraying liquid all over the engine...
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: TexasT on November 17 2014, 11:24:14 AM
If you decide to try it, at least do it outdoors. Any flammable gas can get contained in a confined space with disasterous results. You want the roof to stay on your garage.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: SuperSix on November 17 2014, 11:58:22 AM
If you decide to try it, at least do it outdoors. Any flammable gas can get contained in a confined space with disasterous results. You want the roof to stay on your garage.

And video record it, if you fail, at least you can become YouTube famous.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: Top Speed on November 17 2014, 12:00:11 PM
+1 on the video
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: motorhead on November 17 2014, 01:21:55 PM
I am always spraying propane into my engine... and causing more vaccum leaks, than fixing them.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: Steve Wood on November 17 2014, 03:25:32 PM
If you decide to try it, at least do it outdoors. Any flammable gas can get contained in a confined space with disasterous results. You want the roof to stay on your garage.

One would have to spray a heckuva lot more than than the few seconds it takes to hit the vacuum hoses with in order to obtain an A/F that is roof lifting in your garage.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: TexasT on November 17 2014, 08:51:28 PM
When things become idiot proof, along come better idiots. Better safe than sorry.
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: Steve Wood on November 17 2014, 09:05:34 PM
Nothing like creating science on the fly
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: daveismissing on November 17 2014, 10:14:25 PM
one little hand held propane thermos dispersed across an entire garage?
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: Steve Wood on November 18 2014, 12:22:30 AM
one little hand held propane thermos dispersed across an entire garage?


all you have to do is calculate the volume of the garage and the volume of the cylinder....I believe the leanest mix of propane that will ignite is about 45 to one...gonna take a bunch of those cylinders unless one has the world's smallest garage...

good thing about using propane is that if one did spray the nozzle across a spark, one would get a quick "pop" and that would be it..but if one was spraying brake clean...then everything that was wet would catch on fire...

I always wonder how all those cars in Europe that use isobutane as the refrigerants have not yet blown a parking garage into orbit...someth ing about science, I guess
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: tb3 on November 18 2014, 03:56:57 PM
seems like it would be cleaner than spraying with fluid if you had a nice pretty engine compartment  and what-not.
next time I check for vacuum  leaks I'll give it a try. 
I'll make sure I'm in a well ventilated  area.

I bet Hank Hill would approve  :rock:
Title: Re: anybody heard of the propane torch trick for vacuum leaks?
Post by: Pyro6 on November 18 2014, 05:32:32 PM
As much as I enjoy a good explosion, I bought an economical smoke machine. It's almost mandatory for finding evap leaks for our stupid emission program.
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