Fog machine to smoke EVAP?

[Alaskanredneck]

I have a 96 xlt ohv with a CEL code p0455 gross evap leak. I have looked at every inch of the vacuum system and i can not find anything i also changed the gas cap for good measure. My question is has anyone ever used a Halloween fog machine to smoke there evap to find a leak. Can anyone here see a downside in doing this?

 

[OneLever]

You could just run Seafoam through the intake. When performed directly instead of through the brake booster it produces a lot of smoke. I haven't used it but did read up on it a lot. They sell a version now that you can insert the hose in front of the throttle plate instead of looking for the PCV hose. Search the forum because the application methods are different for different engines if you don't use the throttle plate one.

 

[ragajungle]

I couldnt see that having a down side. Hehe I used the smoke machine the other day to see fireplace airflow. I would have never thought to use it in the truck. good idea!

 

[corkey]

po455 can also be the gas cap too ,,

 

[swetrid]

Most common concern on old explorers was the vapor management valve under the battery or rusty fuel filler necks, gas caps.

 

[Alaskanredneck]

Im not just trying to make smoke to make smoke so I'm not sure why how the seafoam would help in this instance. I love seafoam and use it often both in the gas tank as well as in the intake. I already changed the gas cap as well as the evap vent solenoid under the battery. I checked the filler neck no rust nor cracks visible, no cracks punctures or tears in the lines and could not find any leaks in the intake. well I'm off to buy a fog maker from the party store maybe i can find some clearance stuff

 

[Redneck0907]

Check the evap hook up port, on my truck its near the battery, im not sure where it is on the 4.0s tho. the vibrations of the road resulted in it getting chafed thru on the hose. rather annoying issue. good luck! hopefully the fog machine idea works, ive thaught of doing that too, just too afraid it might damage things..

 

[swetrid]

Ck the canister vent solenoid at the canister above the spare tire.

 

[team]

i've been meaning to do this but just haven't had time. I have done some searching on the internet and you tube and have seen people do it successfully. I say do it!

 

[Alaskanredneck]

Still waiting for the last part to complete my homemade smoker. I plan on hooking it to the little schrader valve with the green cap so I'm waiting for a connector. hopefully i can get this done tonight maybe tomorrow.

 

[team]

sounds good, keep us updated, I want to know how it goes. Remember the evap system isn't supposed to be tested over ~1.5psi so don't just let it run forever. Run it to that evap test port, with the gas cap off, when you see smoke come out the gas cap area put the gas cap back on and run it for a tad longer then cut it off and watch for leaks.

 

[Alaskanredneck]

Well finally got the time away from the family to try this project, the fog machine was very easy to modify. I used the evap port under the green cap I could not find a schrader fitting large enough so I removed the valve and used a pointy rubber fitting shoved in the hole.

 

[team]

how did it work? did it put out a good amount of smoke in the evap system? were you able to find any leaks, if so how easy was it to spot the smoke?

 

[Alaskanredneck]

the smoke was a bit weak imo but i don't know what a professional one looks like. It seemed as though it had plenty of pressure the leak was for lack of a better discription the vent hose off the filler neck just cracked not really sure how. I used my led flashlight and when it hit the smoke it lit right up.

 

[team]

you think you could post of picture of your new tool and give a little rundown of what you did to it?