vacuum leak

[boosted323cab]

hi all,

i've got a 323 with an AA supercharger that i installed a couple of months back. the check engine lights have been coming on indicating an air/fuel problem. Called AA and they recommended checking for vacuum leaks... well... its easier said then done... i went back and made sure i clamped every rubber hose that had to do with vacuum but still get the check engine light. i noticed something unusual just yesterday. in the AA setup, there is a small rubber vacuum line from the crankcase breather hose in the front connecting to a vacuum port on the back side of the engine closer to the well with the dme. the rubber line for some reason is coated with oil on the outside. kinda like oil is bleeding thru the whole length of the rubber line. im guessing that could possible be the culprit for the CEL? any suggestions and or input is greatly appreciated... thanks :)

[Solid]

:pics:



hi all,

i've got a 323 with an AA supercharger that i installed a couple of months back. the check engine lights have been coming on indicating an air/fuel problem. Called AA and they recommended checking for vacuum leaks... well... its easier said then done... i went back and made sure i clamped every rubber hose that had to do with vacuum but still get the check engine light. i noticed something unusual just yesterday. in the AA setup, there is a small rubber vacuum line from the crankcase breather hose in the front connecting to a vacuum port on the back side of the engine closer to the well with the dme. the rubber line for some reason is coated with oil on the outside. kinda like oil is bleeding thru the whole length of the rubber line. im guessing that could possible be the culprit for the CEL? any suggestions and or input is greatly appreciated... thanks :)

[boosted323cab]

here is a pic as requested:

[Solid]

I'm not familiar with the AA setup, but if the crankcase breather is working how i think it is, you probably just need to ziptie or clamp the rubber hose going to the crankcase hose. It's normal that little bits of oil will come from the breather hose and make its way to the manifold (atleast that's what i've been told). Seeing that oil is on the outside of the hose is a good indicator that it's leaking.

[als00328ci]

Hey,

I just installed the AA SC kit too on my 328 and i have my check engine light on too. My code was table 15 code 8 (MAF). But when i looked at my engine, i noticed that i had the same thing with my vacuum hose. It was coated in oil too. To me it looked like my power steering fluid was bursting all over that area. Let me ask you something. After driving your car for 5 minutes or so, does your engine stall after reving? Does your rpm drop lower than it should?

Thanks.

Al

here is a pic as requested:

[boosted323cab]

my car runs fine, no hiccups beside the crappy steptronic being non-responsive. after resetting the CEL, it comes on again after a few startups later indicating fuel/air metering problems. RPM is relatively constant at 700-800 rpm @ idle. Which hose are you talking about? the big one or small one off of the crankcase breather?

Hey,

I just installed the AA SC kit too on my 328 and i have my check engine light on too. My code was table 15 code 8 (MAF). But when i looked at my engine, i noticed that i had the same thing with my vacuum hose. It was coated in oil too. To me it looked like my power steering fluid was bursting all over that area. Let me ask you something. After driving your car for 5 minutes or so, does your engine stall after reving? Does your rpm drop lower than it should?

Thanks.

Al

[als00328ci]

The small one is the one (the one that goes to the vacuum plug in the back of the initake manifold) that was all covered in oil. Do you also have a lightweight flywheel?

my car runs fine, no hiccups beside the crappy steptronic being non-responsive. after resetting the CEL, it comes on again after a few startups later indicating fuel/air metering problems. RPM is relatively constant at 700-800 rpm @ idle. Which hose are you talking about? the big one or small one off of the crankcase breather?

[boosted323cab]

no... mines is an auto tranny... i dont think the flywheel would make a difference... i talked to craig at AA to see if i can take off that line and block the vacuum and breather ports with rubber plugs and he said it was okay... so thats what im gonna try first. i dont see anything like that vacuum set up on the ASA so it should be okay...

[e popa]

hi all,

i've got a 323 with an AA supercharger that i installed a couple of months back. the check engine lights have been coming on indicating an air/fuel problem. Called AA and they recommended checking for vacuum leaks... well... its easier said then done... i went back and made sure i clamped every rubber hose that had to do with vacuum but still get the check engine light. i noticed something unusual just yesterday. in the AA setup, there is a small rubber vacuum line from the crankcase breather hose in the front connecting to a vacuum port on the back side of the engine closer to the well with the dme. the rubber line for some reason is coated with oil on the outside. kinda like oil is bleeding thru the whole length of the rubber line. im guessing that could possible be the culprit for the CEL? any suggestions and or input is greatly appreciated... thanks :)
Did you figure this out?

[boosted323cab]

hey e popa,

still been having the check engine light on and off and up until now... went to the dealership finally and had them try to diagnose the problem. from what the technician saw... he suggested that the large hose coming from the crankcase breather outlet should be put back to normal. instead of attaching it to the elbow of the intake tube, it should go back to the crankcase vent valve. reason being is that my car was running rich on both banks of the 0xygen sensor. he said a possible cause could be that something is messing with the air mass flow sensor. turns out that the oil that is being sucked by vacuum from the crankcase breather hose is coating everything in the intake tube, possibly the air mass flow sensor. comparing the vacuum setup of AA versus ESS ( i didnt have ASA install pics to compare with), AA vacuum setup is straight up DUMB! :banghead: with the breather hose hooked straight to the elbow of the intake... the supercharger is creating an enormous vacuum that its sucking ALOT of oil into the intake elbow coating everything inside also possibly going into the intake manifold and into the brake booster vacuum. ESS vacuum setup is a lil more clever in their design. its too much to type here.. but if you wanna know more.. just pm me... imma try to incorporate ESS vacuum setup to see if i cant get this daymn AA system working correctly.

[anakbabe]

hey e popa,

the supercharger is creating an enormous vacuum that its sucking ALOT of oil into the intake elbow coating everything inside also possibly going into the intake manifold and into the brake booster vacuum. ESS vacuum setup is a lil more clever in their design. its too much to type here.. but if you wanna know more.. just pm me... imma try to incorporate ESS vacuum setup to see if i cant get this daymn AA system working correctly.

Are you talking about this part on the ESS system?

http://www.my330i.com/photos/mod22mmm.jpg

cause inside that elbow pipe, I found there are a little coating of oil too...
is that good?

[boosted323cab]

yes... there should be some oil in the elbow... but not much... in the AA system, the oil basically has no where to go except to the elbow. the instructions was to plug off the line at the dipstick where some of the oil is suppose to drain into the dipstick from the crankcase vent valve (also known as an air/oil separator). now there's has been a topic where an oil catch can can be incorporated into the system to catch the excessive oil, but someone has to make it fit and still work. the AA has an inline filter on the hose on the crankcase breather hose, but doesnt look like its doing its job. any ideas??? :dunno:

[als00328ci]

Wow sounds like you're on to something. Keep us posted on what you find.

yes... there should be some oil in the elbow... but not much... in the AA system, the oil basically has no where to go except to the elbow. the instructions was to plug off the line at the dipstick where some of the oil is suppose to drain into the dipstick from the crankcase vent valve (also known as an air/oil separator). now there's has been a topic where an oil catch can can be incorporated into the system to catch the excessive oil, but someone has to make it fit and still work. the AA has an inline filter on the hose on the crankcase breather hose, but doesnt look like its doing its job. any ideas??? :dunno: