I am doing diligence on a 05 Continental GT in my area, 40k miles.

The inspection report from last service reads the following:

"Customer states when the radio is on and the brake is applied while driving there is a humming noise being heard inside the vehicle. Mechanic upon inspection found vacuum lines have a small leak causing the humming noise heard in the vehicle. Customer declined replacing"

Is this the infamous vacuum leak engine out service? Odd that it would have to do with the radio (what?) and the brakes applied (maybe a vacuum pump booster for the brakes?). Should I run away?

 

Hello @silvertonesx24 ,
That is indeed odd, the vacuum leaks have nothing to do with the radio, and being that it is a 2005, which lines does the report specify, if any ?

What also comes to mind is that someone here not to long ago stated the same issue, they thought that the noise was coming through the radio, I can not recall whom it was a this moment, is the a recent trade in at a dealer ?

Johnny

 

It is an owner cosignement at an indie dealer. I did manage to talk to the service dealer (an official Bentley dealer) and they checked the Vin and did say it was the vacuum leak issue, and that the brake booster system for the vacuum lines are the same system as the rest of the lines that have issues. I didn't feel anything on test drive but if they said so, then that's more evidence. I think the radio issue was just something the customer mentioned, but they didn't confirm.

 

How bad really is the vacuum leak? I have many cars and don't drive much (1k a year on each) , but rubber breaks down regardless.

I think I need to understand this problem deeper and how it fits into my risk tolerance, before diving into continental ownership.

 

I am confused by your comment, as I gave you detailed information as to the severity of the vacuum lines leakage, with both pictures and video in your other thread, if you are dealing with any 2003 to 2005 and possibly early 2006 GT's, you take the chance of having vacuum line leakage over the transmission requiring engine/transmission removal to repair, 2003 and up GT's plus the 2006 and FS's all have the vacuum lines along the firewall leakage problem, which can be addressed by way of removing the steering rack to access the lines, the vacuum lines are not just for the power brake system, they also are rooted to an from the turbos for waste gate control, if at idle the engine has a stumble, and or you press the brake pedal while in park at idle and the vacuum pump constantly turns on, you most likely will have a leak, as when the engine is idling it is making vacuum, not boost, therefore no need for the pump to kick on.

Johnny

 

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. So this should be a reliable test for quickly ruling out a Continental? Engine idle, press brake, pump turns on- walk away?

 

Maybe you should save yourself some time and just walk away now.

 

Already did. Just looking for a quick and reliable way to quickly rule bad cars out in the future.

 

Hello @silvertonesx24 ,
The only true reliable test is a smoke test, a dealer should have no issue in performing the test free of charge as part of their pre-sale inspection, just as a private seller who is selling the vehicle stated to be in proper working order should have no issue bringing the vehicle to an INDY or dealership for said test with you being present to witness that no smoke appears at all during the test.
If either type of seller refuses to allow such test, then walk away..

 

@silvertonesx24 ,
Here are some videos of Jason Giannetti performing some smoke tests.

Johnny

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