It can be extremely frustrating if your car’s engine is acting up and you don’t know why. J&M Auto Service is going to list the signs of an engine vacuum leak below. A vacuum leak can create performance issues with the engine. Generally, replacing the leaking vacuum hose resolves the problem. This is a quick and easy fix we can do at our shop.
Bouncing Tachometer Needle
The engine has a series of vacuum hoses to route the vacuum pressure generated in the combustion chamber to various components to power them. If a vacuum hose is leaking, it will increase the engine’s RPMs. Unfortunately, your tachometer needle will bounce up and down based on when the vacuum pressure is released from the hose. If the leak is a steady stream of vacuum pressure, the tachometer needle will register high all the time.
Engine Performance Lag
When the vacuum pressure leaks out of the cracked hose, it fills the engine with air. Unfortunately, this is what causes engine performance problems. You will notice a significant lag in your vehicle’s acceleration and engine power. The only way to resolve this problem and restore the engine’s performance is to replace the leaking vacuum hose.
Malfunctioning Components
As we mentioned above, the vacuum pressure provides power to engine components. One example is a hydraulic power steering pump. If there is a vacuum leak in the engine that is preventing the pump from receiving the power that it needs, you may notice that it is difficult to turn your steering wheel. This is because the power steering pump is not circulating the power steering fluid through the system.
Strange Engine Noises
In most cases, an engine vacuum leak is audible. You may hear strange noises coming from the engine that remind you of a shop vac hose. Another sound that an engine vacuum leak will make is a squealing or hissing noise. These noises coupled with the issues discussed above almost conclusively point to a vacuum leak as the cause of your engine’s problems.
Check Engine Warning
Finally, because there are a lot of things going wrong underneath the hood, the check engine light will turn on. This is to let you know that the engine has a problem that is causing it to malfunction. In this case, the problem is a leaking vacuum hose.
J&M Auto Service in Tea, SD, would be happy to inspect your engine to find the vacuum leak. Once we find it, we will replace the hose.