Engine combustion, which is required to keep your automobile running, produces vacuum. This vacuum is routed through a series of hoses throughout your engine to be used as a power source. Eurotech Auto Service & Repair advises that if any of the vacuum hoses start to leak, you will notice one or more of the following problems below.
Dead Accessories and Components
If your vehicle’s accessories or components that are powered by vacuum lose that power, they will fail. For example, if your European automobile has suddenly become very difficult to steer, almost as if you have manual steering, it’s possible that you have a vacuum leak in the hose that powers the power steering pump. Unfortunately, the accessories and components will continue to malfunction until you get the vacuum leak fixed.
Engine Performance Problems
You will also end up with some engine performance problems in your European automobile. When the vacuum pressure leaks out of the hoses, you end up with too much air in the engine. Consequently, this thins out the air and fuel mixture in the combustion chamber and, as a result, you end up with a hiccupping engine that struggles to run and accelerate.
Sporadic and High RPMs
You may also be able to see the vacuum leak. Keep an eye on your tachometer to see what the needle is doing. If it is jumping up and down, or if it is constantly registering too high, it’s possible that the vacuum leak is increasing the revolutions-per-minute each time the vacuum pressure spurts out of the leaking hose. You won’t be able to regulate your RPMs until you get the vacuum leak fixed.
Suction or Hissing Noises
You can also hear a vacuum leak. A smaller leak makes hissing or whining noises and a larger leak makes suction sounds. It might sound funny but the suction sounds a lot like the vacuum cleaner in your home. If you suspect that you have a vacuum leak, park your car and set the parking brake. With the engine idling, pop the hood and listen. If you hear sucking or hissing, you have a vacuum leak.
Check Engine Warning Light
Finally, your European automobile’s engine control unit will turn on the check engine light to alert you of a problem. This light is in conjunction with the other symptoms listed above.
Call Eurotech Auto Service & Repair in Fort Myers, FL, today if you think that your European automobile might have an engine vacuum leak. We’d be happy to fix the problem.