Smoke generator with their own hands
But when they have to, they can spend it on what their wives think is “nonsense.”
You can’t put “wires, boxes, wrenches” on the dinner table, -☺
And all the news in the world of AutoDiagnostics is read carefully and analyzed, for example:
Thanks to the SMOKE MACHINE you will be able to:
– Detect leaks, air leaks, cracks, loose connections that destabilize the engine, vacuum correction systems and other systems
– Works where other conventional diagnostic tools (dealership scanners, testers) report a problem but cannot determine the source
– Dense smoke coming out of the leak localizes the problem in minutes
– Visually clear for both diagnostician and customer
– Saves time searching, disassembling parts, trying components, etc.
– Allows you to evaluate the work not for diagnostic time (a few minutes), but for actually solving the problem (up to several hundred dollars)
Of course, today the simple act of diagnostics has become a source of profit for repair shops. At the moment, almost half of the faults that occur are related to some kind of leakage, and the number of such faults is constantly increasing. We used to spend about 10 percent of our time detecting a problem and 90 percent fixing it. Today, it’s practically the other way around. That’s why using the equipment shown above becomes even more important. Not having a smoke generator today means a waste of time in today’s environment where the need for diagnostic services is constantly growing. And time, as you know, is money (original text preserved).
Yes, it’s an advertisement and it says everything right, especially this one:
No smoke generator today means wasted time
But the price … makes you think. One has to think a hundred times before paying for this smoke generator a few tens of thousands of rubles …
Michael Kudrjavtsev , car diagnostician from Moscow, the author of many publications on our online resource, also thought about it.
But he decided the question differently. With the help of his head, hands and acquaintance with the turner. Let’s look at the photo:
1 – compressor from an old aquarium
2 – an ordinary filter
Tube green in the photo – “input”, blue – “output”.
These items cost free of charge, -☺
But for this one I had to pay, 200 rubles or little more:
This is a hollow metal tube, inside which is inserted an “ordinary cigarette”:
Then it is lit, the device is assembled and everything is plugged in:
– the metal tube with the cigarette
– connection in the intake manifold
Ecology is violated here, yes, but no more than from an ordinary smoker.
The car diagnostician’s health is saved because you don’t have to light the cigarette, only the compressor will do the rest.
Situations where you need a “smoke generator” in practice, AutoDiagnosta meet, and rarely or often – it all depends on the direction of work and “passability” of cars in a particular shop.
Having made this device, Michael immediately tested it:
Mitsubishi Lancer 2005 4G18 P0505 – Idle air control malfunction (P0505) – high revs, the error is not reset, bypass screw is screwed all the way in.
Methodology: I plugged my smoke machine into the intake manifold – I saw smoke from the looseness in the throttle:
And on a peep, this flap looked like this:
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The conclusion is obvious, the repair cost exactly as written at the beginning of this piece:
We used to spend about 10% of our working time detecting a malfunction and 90% fixing it. Today, however, the situation has almost reversed. That’s why the use of the above equipment is becoming even more important. Not having a smoke generator today means a waste of time in today’s environment where the need for diagnostic services is constantly growing. And time, as you know, is money.
Well, how can you NOT agree with such a statement?
We couldn’t agree more.
Yes, the device itself, invented by Michael Kudryavtsev not very nice and is not in any comparison with the original:
However, comparing the cost: 43. 000 rubles and 200 rubles – the conclusion can be made.
Smoke generator with their own hands
Making a smoke generator with their own hands, you can determine the place of air suction in the intake manifold. Because of leaking intake manifold air enters the cylinders unaccounted for by DMRV, which provokes floating speeds, difficult starting, high idle speed, increased fuel consumption and related errors on the flowmeter and lambda probe.
The simplest smoke generator
- Glass jar with metal or plastic lid of volume 0,5-1 L. You can find variants on the net that use plastic jars, but crumbling ash or a dropped cigarette can make a hole in it;
- 2 nipples for tubeless car tires. Bicycle nipples with a compression nut are also great;
- A hose where one end fits on the valve and the other end fits on one of the nozzles in your car’s vacuum system;
- An electric compressor or a hand/ foot pump;
- 2 to 3 cigarettes.
Make two holes in the cover for the nipples. The diameter of the drill bit should be a little less than the diameter of the nipple seating to keep the construction airtight. Unscrew the spool from one nipple – through it the smoke will flow through the tube into the intake path. Light a cigarette and place it in the nipple with the spool. After closing the lid, you can turn on the pump.
Peculiarities of Finding an Air Breather
In order to detect the slightest amount of air leakage, there must be at least some pressure in the intake tract during the test. To do this, we need to close the intake manifold going from the air filter to the throttle valve. It is enough to cover the air filter with a bag, and then close the lid tightly, or close the branch pipe with a rag. The escaping smoke is best seen in the dark with a spot light with a flashlight. The most common places for air leaks are:
- Nozzle o-rings;
- the place where the intake manifold adjoins the cylinder head;
- Vacuum-operated pneumatic valves. Their diaphragms are most often affected;
- cracks, cuts on vacuum system hoses;
- the place where the throttle valve contacts the intake manifold;
- Throttle damper pivot. Both the axle and its seat in the throttle body are wearing out;
- rubber gaskets of plastic intake systems. In many modern cars, the intake manifold consists of 2 parts. Due to frequent temperature changes and constant vibrations, rubber products lose their elasticity with time. The gaskets, which have hardened, begin to leak, causing air leaks in the engine;
- places of connection of pipes, hoses of vacuum system. The cause is most often loose clamps or broken connectors.
Other variants of construction
There are no questions about the functionality of the simplest smoke generator, but the aesthetics of use, in my opinion, suffers a little. To make the following version of the smoke generator, I needed:
- A piece of square cross-section pipe;
- 3 plates for the lid and bottom;
- 2 tubeless car tire nipples;
- A glow plug from a diesel engine. Specifically in my case, the glow plug was taken from an Opel Astra F with a 1.7 DR engine;
- Wires, terminals, “crabs” to connect the spark plug to the battery.
Note that many modern diesel engines are equipped with quick glow plugs, controlled by a PWM signal. Their heating element is not designed for long operation at +12V. In the smoke generator, powered directly from the battery, this candle will quickly burn out.
Smoke generator with glow plugs
First of all I prepared a piece for welding, cut 2 pieces from the angle, which will become the bottom and the top cover. First I welded the bottom, immediately drilled a hole and threaded it for the glow plug. In my case the spark plug was threaded M12x0.75 (the hole should be 10.25).
Cut 2 holes to install the nipples. The one above will be a fume outlet (unscrewed the spool from it before), respectively, through the second will supply air.
The solution with nipples opposite each other, as practice has shown, is not very successful. Part of the supplied air goes straight to the outlet, which reduces the concentration of smoke. As you will see in the final version, the air nipple was moved to the top cover.
The diameter of the nipple seats is about 14 mm. For better sealing the seating in the housing a little gasket sealant was applied.
The original design of the smoke generator did not include a removable cover. To fill the oil and control its level I thought through a hole in the lid, where after filling should have been screwed bolt M12. But the first tests showed that controlling the level is more difficult than I thought. So I welded another plate on top of the already existing cover.
On the opposite edges I drilled two 5 mm diameter holes. Later, an M6x1 thread was cut in the bottom plate and the upper hole was drilled to 5.5mm. Also a hatch was cut in the bottom cover. Another advantage of this design is the ability to put a metal dishwasher sponge inside after filling with oil, which will act as an oil separator. It will prevent large oil droplets from rising into the intake tract. A rubber gasket cut from a bicycle tube was glued to the bottom of the top cover.
To reduce the oil fill volume, a nut was screwed onto the plug, then the plug itself was screwed into the smoke generator body. I sealed the connection with epoxy resin. But the body of the candle heats up quite a bit during operation, so there are concerns about the longevity of this method of sealing. I might have to think of something more reliable.
The cover is in place. One of the bolts is used to connect the glow plug mass lead.
Before refueling I unscrewed the second spool and carefully blew out the whole housing with compressed air. I don’t want any metal debris to get into the intake manifold along with the smoke.
In this version the plug is connected directly, which is not very good for its durability. I will supply voltage at short intervals. In the future I will make power through the turn signal relay. With this connection, the ratio of plug on to off will be 50/50.
And here is how the final version looks like with the nipple relocated. Concentration of smoke with this design allows you to easily identify air leakage in the engine.
