Smoke / Fog Machine to locate leaks?

[tommiman]

Just wondering if anyone has tried using a smoke / fog Machine to locate boost leaks? I have one laying around and was thinking of trying it. It's the one you can buy at a party store for around $40 bucks.

 

[elfroggo]

Why not use a compressor and listen for hissing instead.

 

[eclipsh]

It is an interesting idea but how will you get the smoke machine to pressurize the system to 20psi? It might be good for locating giant holes in your system but unless you can get smoke in and the system pressurized I don't think it will work as well as the air compressor and soapy water in a spray bottle method. If there is a leak the bubbles it makes are a dead giveaway.

Don't give up though. If you can find a way to make that work it'd be a cool tool to use. (Hmmm... maybe a colored smoke bomb in the intake and then the compressor....)

 

[tommiman]

I am using the pressurize, hear the leak, and spray away method, but I thought it’d be so much easier just to see where it’s coming from. The smoke machine shoots out the smoke at around a good 3 – 4 feet. I can feed that into the turbo or intercooler and then pressurize the system.

My only worry is that the ingredients in the smoke might have a bad effect on the internals.