smoke pro total tech leak detector

[shogun]

Quite expensive stuff but maybe soemthing for the pro's like BillR.
http://www.redlinedetection.com/products.htm
Found it on roadfly and the poster claimed the following, maybe he is a salesman of that product:
quote

A visual inspection of all hoses and connections is a good place to start. However, there are a few other methods, although some require some equipment that might not be available to the average home mechanic.

Ranging from simplest to most complex methods some are:

Spraying carb cleaner on hoses and connections while listening for any changes in idle speed. Observation of exhaust emissions with a gas analyzer at the same time will also help in some cases.

Propane enrichment can also be used in a simialr fashion. This uses a special nozzle on a standard propane cylinder, again the propane is directed at the hoses and/or connections while listening for any changes in engine speed or idle quality.

The best method these days is with the use of a smoke machine. The air intake(s) is (are) blocked a hose removed and the smoke machine attached. The machine generates smoke at a very low pressure, after a few minutes or so of the machine running and connected to the engine if smoke is observed coming out from anywhere you've found your leak(s).

Unfortunately smoke machines are kind of pricey, so not really practical for home use. However, supposedly, there are instructions on the net on how to build a simple one with off the shelf parts from the hardware store or home improvement center for 20 bucks or so. Try a google search if you want to attempt this.

Jeff
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Another interesting posting with regard to possible air leaks:

Lamda control doesn't start until sensor is up to the operational temperature (>~650), which takes 3 to 5 minutes.

If your CEL is coming on immediately upon starting then the O2 sensor may be hanging the voltage out of range for more than 5 seconds, which can trigger an O2 fault for voltage out of range. The degraded O2 sensor can cause this behaviour--sometimes working, sometimes hanging.
O2 sensors are high maintenance items, 20 to 50k miles.

[winfred]

yea smokers are hideously expensive about $1400 off the snap on truck, if i cared enough id build one but carb cleaner does good enough for my needs

[winfred]

generally 02s are good for 120k and often last 150-175 before crapping out, the usual mode of failure is slow reaction and or warm up time, sometimes you can clean em and get a little longer out of it but at that point it's starting to cost you money in mileage/power/smooth operation. cleaning, i do it by wire wheeling the crud off the outside of the tip and scraping the slots clean with a pick, then i overheat it with a map gas torch and shock it with a blast of air through the slots, i usually get a puff of crap out of it then i test as usual with a propane torch and my graphing multimeter looking at the response time


If your CEL is coming on immediately upon starting then the O2 sensor may be hanging the voltage out of range for more than 5 seconds, which can trigger an O2 fault for voltage out of range. The degraded O2 sensor can cause this behaviour--sometimes working, sometimes hanging.
O2 sensors are high maintenance items, 20 to 50k miles.