Smoking out vacuum leaks

[curtis4085]

Hello gang,

Yesterday was very productive maintence day for my 79 Westfalia!

This is a upgraded 2.0 FI engine built by Adrian at www.Headflowmasters.com having a webcam 142grind with solid lifters a well as Jake Raby's upgraded upper valve train which include billet solid rocker spacers, rocker shafts, HD rocker studs, and Porsche 911 swivel foot adjusters.

Today's list include 3000 mile maintenance.
-oil and filter change (Brad Penn 20/50 oil and Bosch filter)
-valve adjustment (remember no longer stock hydraulic lifters)
-no points or condenser(pertronix installed)
-Timing and idle adjustment
- adjust air fuel mixture (LM-2 meter on hand, best money spent)

So I went down the usual check listed above and when done I fired him up! Well here is where my journey really began. Started up idle fine for the first minute then got real lumpy idle. Went and checked my LM-2 meter for AFM and it was running pretty lean 16.+(again est money spent, te slightest change I know something is a miss) Hmmm I scratched my head to retrace my steps. No hoses were knocked off and all wires were in place. The one thing I did outside the norm and I felt could be the culprit was disconnect my egr valve from the throttle body by removing the rod that connects them. Upon investigation of this area I noticed my egr crossover pipe was unusually loose and it also appeared the egr valve to plenum connection had slight leak. This was starting to paint the picture of why I was seeing such a lean idle al of a sudden. In removing the egr rod I must have knocked loose what little seal was in place causing major vacuum leak.

Which brings me to the fix or yet another journey... I decided I wanted to test the whole system for vacuum leaks( have noticed in previous weeks I had a slightly uneven idle ( I attributed this to my idle timing of 4 BTDC.) so I started calling around to find a automotive smoke machine used for checking veal leaks. Found a local shop that would loan me there unit for a small $200 day fee I just could not part with the Benjamin's to make it happen. So I went to the web and did some poking around and seen a nifty idea someone came up with using a coffee can some hose, a nebulizer and a cigar to make there own smoke machine. Luckily after many years not smoking I started back smoking a cigar now and then as well as having had a sick dog that needed a nebulizer to aide in her recovery from lung infection (being sarcastic!) I had all the items on hand. Within 5 minutes I had a smoke machine and saved $200 bucks!

I decided that the Large hose going from the S boot to the decel valve was the best location for the smoke to be injected into the system. I disconnected the AFM and used a clean rubber glove to plug that hole. Fired the cigar and turned on the air pump and away we went. Egr when I actuated the leaver showed signs of leaks right away. I continued to pump smoke till it came out the tail pipe. At this point I thought I had the smoking gun and proceeded to the fix. Went down to my local Aircooled mechanic Pat at Vee W-Unlimited in Loveland, CO, very cool knowledgable group, and was turned onto some free gasket material. I had a GermanSupply block off kit on hand but have been so let down by this vendor I cannot bring myself to put anything I've bought from them on my buses, hence the gasket material! Within few minutes I had a nice sturdy gasket cut and in place between the egr valve and plenum also made sure the exhaust to egr filter was blocked, check! Applied smoke to system again, gave a good visual inspection, buttoned things back up thinking I was was good to go!! Wrong I fired him back up and although the idle was quite a bit better and my AFM was not as lean yet it wasn't perfect. So back to the drawling board I went. Broke out the led flashlight and gave the engine a finer inspection... After going threw every connection on the top end I I was just about to pull my hair out when I noticed a little oil pooling on top of head near in take on #3 cylinder. The cooling tin cut out there just exposed enough of the top of head in this area that I'm not sure how I missed it in my earlier inspections. Just wasn't looking for oil leak I guess. This small oil pool has happened once in the past after a valve adjustment which I discovered was a valve cover gasket that happened to get misaligned causing some leakage. Quick peak at #3-4 valve cover and I noticed some oil spray on the egr filter. Swapped out for a new valve cover gasket fired him back up and noticed and immediate difference. Checked my LM-2 meter and the mixtures was back to normal!! I run 13.4-.7 idle mixture. Having the upgraded cam and ported and polished heads the engine seems happier there.

Now the engine sounds and runs as it should..

Things that are note worthy!

- Adrain at Headflowmasters build one hell of a nice engine. Was affordable, quality dependable builder. I wouldn't hesitate to getting another engine from him. As matter fact I'm sending another long block to him to blue print and rework ASAP.

-Jakes valve train upgrades are a awesome compliment to the engine as I can see every spec of movement when I do valve adjustments. Keeping a record of these adjustments for future reference. It's also very quite sounding. Almost as quite as having Hydraulic lifters.

- LM-2 meter is a necessity.
- homemade smoke machine was a nice addition as I feel it gave me added confidence that I had no leaks.
- never give up, stay positive, and have your Bentley a Service manual handy!
_________________
Special Thanks to:
Headflow Masters - Vista, CA
www.headflowmasters.com

[Tcash]

Hi
Any pix of the smoke machine or a link to the site?
Thank you

[SGKent]

That is great Matt - glad you got it sorted out.

[aeromech]

Smoking Out

Haven't done that in a long time. Sure have some good memories doing that in the bus though. It sucks getting old. I hope I have a few brain cells remaining.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[wcfvw69]

I love reading your posts and seeing how anal you are w/your bus! Love it.

Let's see some pics of the smoke machine! I'm very curious!
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

40+ years of VW repair, and VW parts and vehicle restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[curtis4085]

[wcfvw69]

Awesome Video!

American's are SSOO ingenious!

Thank heavens for YOUTUBE..
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

40+ years of VW repair, and VW parts and vehicle restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[curtis4085]

[wcfvw69]

[curtis4085]

[eche_bus]

Interesting story, Matt. The smoke method seems an excellent way to find those little leaks. Now if I can just get out of "interior hell" and on to engine work again ...