DIY Smoke Machine For Vacuum or EVAP Leaks E46 P0171 P0174 

Dude all of your videos have saved my life and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all that you have done. We bought our daughter a 2004 330xi for her first car. I knew it was going to need some stuff but it ended up being a full time evening project. Without your videos I would have been lost and still stumped. I can tell you the smoke tester saved me hours of work. It had the same vacuum leak at the booster and it was making it run like crap. Tightened the clamp and now it’s all better. Again I can’t thank you enough for these informative and excellent put Together videos. Your step by step directions make it easy to understand and takes the intimidation away from the type of vehicle it is.

Your probably responsible for keeping more bmws on the road than anyone ever. I know that you have been a life saver for me. Thank you

Kid it worked great the only thing I did different was use 2 custom chrome metal valve stems for tires. I used them as the inlet for the air ,and outlet for the smoke. I took the smoke side valve stem out so the smoke can escape ,and put an electric tire pump to supply the air. Thanks Bud!!!

Excellent!!!! I have a 2004 Ford Taurus and had been trying on and off for 6 months to find a vacuum leak. Within 1 minute after hooking up the machine, I found the leak coming out of the intake manifold runner control valve. The o-ring was leaking like a sieve. I was so happy and proud of myself. lol The o-ring cost me about $7 and $7 to ship. $14 total. Amazing!!! I had already replaced the MAF sensor and PCV valve. Costly and frustrating. That's when I saw your video, was inspired and decided to give it a try. I didn't have an air compressor so I bought a fish tank aerator pump ($15) which puts out 3 psi max and skipped the regulator since I was checking just the intake manifold. Used the same wire and wicks with mineral oil. The wire resistance was 0.814 ohms per foot which for 2 ohms worked out to be 29.5 inches (used 30"). Worked great. Thank you and keep up the good work.

You don’t need a propane regulator. You just need an adjustable valve. I made this almost identical setup. I put a low pressure gauge between the can and the valve. It only needs 1-2 psi. If you run more than that you won’t hurt your vacuum system, you’ll blow the lid off of the can. I also cut a metal paint roller screen that would normally be hung inside a paint bucket to squeeze the paint off the roller. I cut it so it fits inside the smoke can and I put it on the bottom of the can that burning material goes on it. I just light a few pieces of cardboard on fire then drop it in and put the lid on. Have your vacuum line and air line attached first, then open the valve to 1-2 psi. It works amazing. I found the mystery vacuum leak on the back of the carburetor base plate.

actually showing what the vacuum leaks look like is key. such a great source of info. thank you 50's kid

I designed and 3d printed a 90mm adapter to plug the smoke tester in at the MAF sensor intake tube. Worked a treat to find a leak in the upper intake tube (it seems the lower had been changed so that wasn't a problem). Now I'm printing an adapter that will plug into the DISA valve junction so I can check the rest of the intake system for leaks without the intake tubes connected.

This video was great, thanks. I connected the smoke directly to the intake boot with a rubber grommet (for lack of a better word) and pumped in a LOT of smoke. No leaks, and once it developed sufficient pressure to actually pop the grommet out of the boot after about 20-25 seconds. No smoke detected anywhere

Any form of mineral oil, including baby oil is fine, that's what comes with a machine if you buy one. Adding glycerin is just an expensive waste. If you get lavender babu oil, your car/garage will smell nice after the test! 😆 The wire your using is called "resistance wire." It's designed to produce greater resistance in a shorter span. You may or may not have access to resistance wire, though you can use stainless steel, mig welder wire, "safety wire" or even bailing wire, whatever you have, it just may take more of it. *Important* Don't let the coils of wire touch as you wrap your wick. If the coils touch, it creates a short which will change the resistance and you could end up with too much or not enough which could cause issues. So, just leave a little space between each of the coils. The goal is to make enough resistance to burn the fluid without over powering it so, about 2 ohms of resistance is perfect. You Gan go a little bit lower, don't go much higher. *Properly determining the length of wire to achieve 2 ohms...* Keeping your choice of wire straight, attach one end to one probe of an ohm meter (hold in a small vise or between your fingers), then pinch the the other probe and wire in your fingers and slide along the wire (use a rubber/nitrile glove so the resistance of your hand oils don't change the value), getting the probes farther apart until the meter reads *2 ohms,* then cut the wire about an inch longer to give you room to attach to the screws, etc. 2 ohms is an appropriate value, it'll be close enough. You can get the blow gun and (most of) the fittings you'll need in a kit from Harbor Freight really cheap and should even come with an extra rubber tip (or they used to). They've got most everything but the propane reg., hose and can if you look. You can use a half gal. or even quart sized paint can, it doesn't need to be larger than a quart, which is what a lot of the commercially produced machines have now. Be careful not to missinform the uninformed, there are some options... 😆 You can add a small pressure regulator, like you would put in line before another air tool, somewhere between your compressor/air pig (the portable air tanks that you charge with a compressor are called "pigs." Hey, I didn't name them...) which will drop the pressure as low as you want to go before it gets to the can, then have the propane regulator as a backup/secondary regulator if you wish. The adjustable style you show is great, though most standard regulators on a barbecue, that you would salvage, are pre-set to *8 PSI* or you can buy them pre-set to about 1 PSI. The adjustable are best, however because you don't want to go much above 1 PSI but you could use that regulator elsewhere @ higher pressures, should you choose. *Note that there are low and high pressure propane regulators,* be sure you get the low pressure (cheaper) regulator like shown in this video. Also, you can eliminate the need for any of it, including the compressor, by installing a Schrader valve like on a bicycle or car into the can and use a bicycle tire pump (there are small, very portable types that mount to the bike frame as well as the traditional "stand on it and pump" types). Just apply a few pumps periodically and it does a *very* good job without the chance of over-pressurizing the system. People with no expensive equipment, air compressor, etc. and/or the need to be mobile with their tester (testing friends and family's cars, etc.) can function just fine, independently from compressed air other than a hand pump. 😀 *Pro tip* If you've got a leak but it's so small that you can't really see the smoke, turn out the bright lights and use a laser pointer to find the smoke. Just run it around the suspect areas and look for "hazy" light. These leaks just aren't always visible to the eye under standard, white light.

At first I thought you were just "blowing smoke"... Then I realized you actually were 😁 Thank you 👍😎

Seeing some silly ass comments on here about how “dangerous” this is. Let’s not get carried away here. Should you take precautions such as having a fire extinguisher nearby? Yes. Should you always have one nearby when doing automotive work? Yes. Mineral oil is NOT flammable. It is combustible. The flashpoint of a flammable material is 100F, but the flashpoint of mineral oil is around 335F. Settle down folks. Great video. Keep up the good work. 👍🏼

Thanks again. You have become an invaluable resource for myself and I'm sure many others. I would not be able to afford this car without your great and informative videos.

Bless you!! I was about to dump $64 on the SAME thing from fleabay,and I decided to look on YT to see if anyone homebuilt one.Great Video!!!

Awesome instructional video, by far the best design and really good explanation of what each part does and how to build it.

Many paint cans are plastic now.... Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

Hi 50's kid, thanks for the content you shae fella,to say the least i find them all very well narrated and extreemly inspirational...Iwas just about to follow your smoke machine build and start ordering bits from ebay when it stuck me that a small fog machine the types used by DJ'S might be a cheaper and easier way to go about having my own smoker..Sure enough i managed to purchase a bnib fog machine for £25.00, ad it works perfectly...cheers fella ian

Wouldn’t be able to keep my BMW with out the help you tubers like you. Thank you for the time you invest making your videos.

I have watched most "car guy" videos and they all have their merits. However the 50skid is by far the best at good quality mechanical engineering advise. There are many others that provide more entertainment factor or bodge it jobs. The 50skid videos are packed full of information without gimicks. It's a gem that his videos are e46 specific and I shall be watching all of them.

Thank you! I always wanted to have my own "smoke machine" just because all of my BMWs have been over 200k kms. :D Now, I can make one! Thanks again. :)

I'm building mine now as I type...very excited as I have a couple of cars to try this out on. For those of you folks that are anally retentive on having to have a nut on the back of your fittings...I finally found success at Ace Hardware. Of all places...found in the lighting aisle. Check out Jandorf Hex Nut...assorted steel...item number 60167. Fit perfectly!

Brilliant! Thanks for all the great info on E46. I would be lost without you

I tried this, worked perfect. Except in use. My wife doesn't take great care of her car, an 03 Subaru, and has had a slow leak for 5 years. I plugged into the oil filler and inspected in the dark with a strong flashlight for a few minutes until smoke plummed out of the air intake...... I give up.

I made mine, ran it from 20 minutes and stayed cool to the touch. worked perfectly.

I've looked at several of these videos, but the others did not do as well describing how and where to get the smoke into the vacuum system. Thanks!

Made this setup....Works great! The only thing I would change on my setup is..... I would put the air inlet hole about 2 inches up. I put mine about 1 inch up and t is too low, but it still works. Can dial the smoke up or down with regulator.

I don't know why modern cars want to cover everything with shrouds. It takes forever just to change oil. This is an excellent video! You show where to hook it up and give different scenarios.

thank you ..learned about step drills, grommets and EVAP leaks. I appreciate your detailed explanation.. GREAT work.

I got my grandpa some tobacco for his pipe but put it into a bong (he’d never seen one before). He sat there for an hour huffing & puffing & blowing through the pipe connected to the car. He had a nice afternoon.

Just a little warning: 12V over 2 Ohms gives a 6A current. 6 x 12 = 72 Watts. These 72 Watts of heat will have to be dissipated over some area. If you get the area wrong (wrong gaugue of wire, wrong size of can, whatever), the temps may raise and your whole can of oil explodes in an uncontrollable oil fire, covering your engine with this burning oil. Note: Misunderstanding the instructions, or a simple implementation error (aka "clever improvement"), may give the same result. A simple error can easily double (or worse) the power that needs to be dissipated. I'd just use some smoke pellets, cigars or whatever instead!

Thanks for this video, I used your instructions to make my own basically the same. I didn't bother with the propane regulator - I just dialed down the pressure to just cracked open on my air compressor.

You make great videos. Have saved us tons of money. Thanks

Thanks 50K, that detail regarding the length of wire is very helpful (2 Ohm spec.)

Very good video. You were very through and informant about the construction and use of it. Good Job. It was clear also and a steady camera. Thanks

This is probably the best one I've seen. Great job thankyou.

thanks I bought a red line 4 200 bucks tgey had it to full got baby oil at right level works great everything works too

I was not going to pay Snap On 2K for one. I made one from a steel ammo can from Harbor Freight and a GM diesel flow plug , baby oil and a candle wick . 30 bucks total . Works great

Thank you for posting this video, very informative. I have watched some of your other videos just recently and they are detailed as well. I am in the process of getting the parts to assemble my own smoke machine. I read all the questions and feedbacks. Some of the questions were the ones I was going to ask you, so am glad I read them first.

Fantastic! Thank you for showing us the parts of the home made evap smoker.. I will build a skinnier model or at least try ..will make a video on it if it works. Thanks

an inline fuse (10A) in the positive lead would be helpful if the can ever turned over and grounded the terminal connection to the car chassis or if the rubber grommets at the can-end of the leads ever rot or split and ground-out to the can.

i used a cheap harbor freight syphon pump, a rubber glove, and a cigar lol everything combined costed like 5 bucks and it worked great lol

I was experiencing a weird idle problem on my Porsche 911. I couldn't hear a vacuum leak nor could I spot any hoses off or broken. Finally took it to the local super tech. He found the leak in about 30 seconds using a homemade smoke machine. His used a Mercedes Benz diesel glow plug for heat and ATF for smoke. Worked like a champ.

Ok thanks now I know where to connect the hose 👍👍

Thanks for explaining the whole wire thing other videos don't.

An "upgrade" of sorts would be to use vegetable glycerin (VG) which gives good clouds of smoke and is non flammable :)

I love you man you the best I been following you for almost 10 year

Thanks to you I'll know how to use it now. Bill Mack from SC

I would recommend an in line fuse to that setup. If those terminals ever shorts across that paint can it should give a bit of protection.

You can go even cheaper by salvaging the wire from an old hair drier heating element

Dont know if this has been mentioned but those grommets he talks about are to insulate the wires so they don't short agsinst the tin can. Otherwise you could have a electrical/oil fire possibly. Yes longer hoses to put the can on the ground. Also helps if you need to source a leak from around the top of the intake manifold.

How did you keep negative and positive from crossing or creating a connection through the side screw holes of the can??? Please answer!

Hi. Great video. I followed your instructions exactly and made a smoke machine. Works great! I made a video using the smoke machine on my 1996 Ford Mustang. In my description I put a link to this video of yours. Thanks again!

Thinking of making one, and this is one of the best one i have seen... thanks for vid..

Very informative, thank you so much for doing this for all of us

Dude, 6 amps through 2 ohms resistance is 72 watts. That's a lot of heat to concentrate in such a small space as your coil. You might want to put a little more wire on your next coil, or, maybe use an inert gas instead of air. If you should overheat that thing with just the right mix of air and oil vapor inside, your paint can might end up looking "kind of" like a daisy! I know because I busted a stove pipe that way once. I had an old wood heater sitting outside in the yard where I was working. It was cold outside, so I built a fire in it. Later, I threw some dirty grease into the heater. In a few minutes, the grease vapors built up enough that they exploded. But if you're bent on creating a bomb, you could use a 100 watt light bulb and an old lamp. Just disassemble the lamp, and use just the socket, the metal tube, the cord and the plug. If the tube is too long, just cut the threaded part off and install it through a hole drilled in the top of the can using the two tube nuts of the lamp. You can then push the cord through the tube and seal the tube to the cord with silicone sealant or 5-minute epoxy. You will have to remove the plug from the cord first or cut it and splice it later to do this unless you can disconnect it from the lamp socket. Next just slip a sock over the bulb to use for a wick, but first lace a cable tie in and out through the top of it. Pull it up above the socket if you're worried that the cable tie might melt, and tighten the cable tie.

I've no vacuum leaks but I think I'll make one just in case haha. Also a tip for the wires in the plastic harness that run in front of the cabin air filter ... You don't have to unclip it and take the wires out before removing it. Leave the wires in the plastic case and lift it up in one piece. It slides on and off ;)

AND REMEMBER, The smoke you are making is combustible, if you allow your coil to get too hot IT WILL EXPLODE! ...Mine did, I used a plastic bottle so I could see how much smoke it was generating and was regulating the coil with a momentary switch which I held it a little too long and BAM-O!!! LOL You might want to use Co2, Nitrogen or Argon instead of an air compressor. Seems I read that mineral oil has a wider combustible oxygen : fuel ratio than other fuels. These things need to be considered if you don't want explosions in your garage. And don't use glass!

I did the smoke test in high school .

"This is what I built, it probably has ------ and here this is probably a -----" 😂

Hmmm. Intake is a closed system except it is connected to the crankcase via PCV (or CCV in this case.) There is a diaphragm blocking the passage. The smoke is only 1-3 psi. It should not push the diaphragm open (if it is even at the right direction). What does that mean if u remove the oil fill cap and smoke coming out from there? Bad CCV?

baby oil works good and it smells nice

When you are getting parts for this, buy the tiki torch wick that is the rope type like in this video. The only ones I found at the store were white and they seem to be of a fiberglass material and they are very difficult to shape and work with so I would not recommend them.

Quality videos man keep it up just bought my first e46 these have and will help lots.

Cool trick,I usually remove the vaccum hose from the brake booster & have my brother blow cigarette smoke thru the hose since I don't smoke.works as gd.

Thanks man almost have all the parts for a build. 👍🏻😎

I use my e-cigarettes vapor and it works real good

just dawned on me watching this, for such a low PSI, wonder if anyone's tried using an Ezibleed kit that connects to a spare tyre for pressure and use a smoke pellet?

I saw one made with a harbor freight ammo box. Probably a little more sturdy than the paint can.

I have 740i sport e38 that has a evap leak which I can hear it under the car on the driver side I'm getting a smoker to find it so the car will pass emissions

So, I'm learning, but so far I've learned there are several 1 way check valve everywhere. Would'nt these block smoke?

Hey 50's, do you think that I'd still need the propane regulator of my tank already has a a variable hose pressure valve? Part of me thinks that I have to keep the line highly pressurized but not the tester, hence the need for a propane reg.

Excellent Video, than you so much for sharing.

You could use a variable constant current power supply to easily calibrate the best current

Sir your explanation is really good,i have an scross 1.6 diesel, while doing this test do i have to close the throttle body?

Getting the urge to dump a bunch of hash oil in it 😂

I failed to build a smoke machine ! I use Copper wire to wrap around the Tikki Torch and when I connect to car battery , the positive terminal is short , causing a small zap . You have any idea ? The copper wire is 18 Gauge , not nichrome gauge 24 gauge

Awesome video bud. Building it!

Great detailed video! How much mineral oil did you use? Or how high needs to bee the level of the mineral oil? Does it have to be under the self made heating element or is the element "swimming" in the oil?

excellentttt 100-100 video ty for sharing

You can easily make one with a simple hand pump too instead of using compressed air, which might do damage.

good video! thanks!! I am a 50's kid too. :) Liked !!

Is this a harbor freight commercial?

you may know this answer best; Are there any potential vacuum leaks on E46 that would NOT show up with a 2psi smoke test (injecting into the intake tube where the MAF used to connect)? I understand the brake booster would be one because of the one-way valve at the connection to the booster, but I've accounted for that by removing the hose from the booster, sealing it manually, and sitll having lean issues. Also have replaced fuel pump and filter and have good pressure. I'm down to injectors, O2 sensors, or MAF, if the vacuum is fine. I am not seeing smoke anywhere but idk if im missing something that can suck air in (and be a vacuum leak), but seals itself under my pressure smoke test....

actually for hidden corner, you can use those endoscope camera. It kind of cheap these days.

Cigarette, cigar, vape. All there work too. You just have to "work". Being a retired DJ, I do have a fog machine, lol.

Oh no, I failed, please help! I bought 22ga wire and found 2ohms at about 16” of wire. I built my pot, mostly like yours and attached it to 12v at the car battery. After a moment of bright light, the wire inside the can burned at the ends, eliminating contact from the can terminals. What did I do wrong? I did use baby oil but otherwise, everything is the same as yours. Thanks for the help.

"just the tip" xD 4:40

Disculpe amigo, cuanto de presión de aire le pone a esa herramienta

The wire over the wick. Is that the 20 gauge wire you show, the wrapped wire looks larger. Going to work on this. Thank you for a great video.

Now wondering if one could add a little Antifreeze to the mix and use a UV light,besides looking for plain smoke?

should it come out the exhaust

Please tell me..., i can't understand just one thing.., the wire is one right that? In one end is for positive clip and in other end is for negative clip? Many thanks...

When you pull the hose off the brake booster are you pulling just the hose off or the valve out of the brake booster? Is there a trick to pulling it off or just “pull hard”?

Thanks you for posting, great information.

Good job! Thank u for the fine pointers!!

Awesome work, thanks a lot for this great video!

why don't the positive and neg create a short and spark since its all running to 1 wire

Diesel glow plugs work good for a smoke generator.

Thanks for making this video. I have a 97 Camaro that idles at 1k. I believe it's an intake leak somewhere at the plenum since it has a few areas where tubes connect to it. Debating just buying the complete kit same as your for $85 on Ebay. Oh, and I also have a 96 328ic and 05 645ci. I love BMW!! :D

Awesome video! Thanks!

Hello just a quick question, what are the chances or is it common for intake manifold to be cracked for vacuum leak? Thank you.