Took me 4 hours to find a vacuum leak that was just a cracked hose fitting

I was chasing a rough idle on a 2005 Civic for what felt like forever. Smoke tested it twice, sprayed brake cleaner everywhere, nothing. Finally decided to pull the intake manifold for a closer look and found a hairline crack on the PCV hose fitting where it meets the valve cover. 4 hours of my life gone because of a $6 piece of plastic. Anyone else ever waste a whole afternoon on something that simple?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_fiona4d ago

Are you kidding me? 3 DAYS on a loose ground wire?? I would have LOST my mind. At least @ericschmidt has a point about learning the quirks though. I spent a whole Saturday once chasing a misfire on my old Focus, turned out to be a chunk of carbon blocking the EGR passage. Five hours of my life gone just to scrape out some gunk with a screwdriver. The worst part is when you finally fix it and realize how simple it was the whole time. Makes you want to throw a wrench across the garage.

taylor_flores7d ago

is 4 hours really that bad though?

ericschmidt7d agoMost Upvoted

4 hours is nothing for a proper diagnostic win. You could have thrown parts at it all day and still been chasing the rough idle. I've seen guys spend three days swapping sensors on a misfire only to find a loose ground wire. A smoke test and brake cleaner spray are solid steps, and sometimes plastic cracks are invisible until you get the part off and flex it. Plus, that $6 piece taught you something about the car that a code reader never would. Time spent learning the little quirks of your specific platform beats shotgunning parts any day.