I've posted this before but I'll post it again, check you intakes for leaks, I've been feeling that my car was down on power at the top end for a while now, finally got around to smoking the intake and found a pin hole leak, last time idi this was 2 years ago.

bottom line, 10min of work and it's whole new car.

 

Good advice Bill...

What did you use to smoke the intake?

 

A fancy shop smoker, it isn't something most guys will have at home but it is the nuts

 

Once I get my engine back together I will have to check around to see if anyone has one locally.....

 

I actually use one of those party smoke machine which can be bought for $40. I pressurize the intake with couple lbs of pressurized air. Then just pump the party smoke into the engine bay and watch for the air leak creating a swirl pattern in the smoke.

This is more effective than trying to pump smoke into the intake itself.

 

I am a fairly avid wrencher, but this is new to me. What do you mean "pressurize the intake"? Can you explain the steps to pressurize it using an air hose? Thanks and I apologize for my complete naievete on this topic.

 

I went to home depot and bought a 3-3.5 inch rubber cap and fitted it with an air hose connector. I then removed the airbox and connect the cap up to the MAF. I then put very low pressurized air (2-3 psi) into the air hose connector.

The 993 manual has a porsche specific part and the same procedure.

 

"pin hole leak" where exactly? How is it fixable in only 10 mins? Is there a thread with pics/explanation or some other tech info somewhere?

 

Could you use Wurth Trace Powder Spray ??

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...Powder%20Spray

phil.

 

A good shop will have a machine that generates smoke, the machines usually cost north of $1k.

In my case the leak was at a vacuum nipple that wasn't being used and was plugged off, the pin hole leak was around the plug, a small hose clamp was the cure

 

Bill,

Was the leak causing your vram actuator not to work?

 

yes, that was the cause of the symptom, power loss at high rpm

 

Thanks Bill, excellent advice... Not sure about vram cars, but with non-vram the intake should hold vacuum indefinitely. A quick check is to let the car sit for a couple of hours and pull the line to the actuator, you should hear it hiss, No hiss=vacuum leak.

 

That was the kicker for me, I pulled the vac lines and there was no sssss

when you turn the key the actuators cycle, I could hear the relay but could never be in 2 places at once to turn the key and watch the actuators.

This was my first experience w/ a quality smoke machine, it was an very efficient method to diagnose where the leak was.

The other issue I've been having is the lack of enough vacuum for long straights, the v-rams use a lot of vacuum so I just added another vacuum can. Hope it's sufficient, the non vrams need ~1/3 of the vacuum reserve

 

Cool, Bill. Does this mean I get a rematch on the back straight at MMC?