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I have a 2007 Continental GT. I have an extended warranty on it, but I took it into a shop where they confirmed the vacuum leak with a smoke test, and without a CEL or something, the extended warranty won't cover it. So it's a small leak, and if I want it fixed, and don't have to listen to the vacuum pump turn on every time I touch the breaks, engine out $6500.
So I figured I'd buy my own smoke tester and at least verify for myself where it is coming from, and see if it was something I can DIY. It took a while, but I finally saw smoke leaving an area around the RH (US Passenger Side) catalytic converter area from below. I removed the RH wheel, wheel liner, stuck my scope camera down the steering rack area, and believe I found the leak.
A few questions: what could possibly be all of that nasty looking crap all over the T connection? Water vapor? I did have the smoke machine going for a while, to find the leak. Sorry for the terrible quality, it's pretty hard to maneuver the scope smoothly. Looks based on the condensation drop, the crack or leak is on the bottom.
Is this the same T connection seen here at around 1:05? This is only about a foot in to the steering rack, and I'm hoping I'll be able to patch this somehow pretty easily.
Hello @silvertonesx24 ,
Yes that is my video, and I believe that you hit the nail on the head, that it is most likely the tee closest to the passenger side wheel well, now, this may be a crude suggestion of repair, but I would try it if I only had that one leak, iirc the heat shield is only held on by one bolt/screw in the area of the red arrow, the other end of the shield slides into a z clamp, so easily re-slid back I to the z, removing the heat shield would give you a little more access room, I would probably try either a very small amount of JB weld, or high temp black rtv, or the like, do NOT force to much into the crack that you clog the pipe, just enough to seal the crack, let cure for the proper time required, and smoke test again.
Not sure as to all the gunk, but did you ever have blown out CV boots, or leaking Valve covers, so, prior to trying the sealant repair, be sure to clean the area with the long tube attached to the Brake Kleen spray nozzle, ALSO be sure the exhaust is cold... !
Thanks! I'm glad that it wasn't just me, thinking a small dose of JB weld might solve this. At least worth the try as that is my only leak.
Break Kleen is a great idea..I'll have to find an extension tube to get the spray in there and clean that up before trying to patch, maybe pick up a siphon spray gun
Now that I look at it again, I don't think my leak is from the closest T joint, it is from the second closest one. The one here at 1:28 in your video. I'll have to smoke check again to be sure, weird place for it there and not the other T joint.
In the U.K. it seems removal of the rack is the preferred access for those T s .Anyhow great post , as Johnny says with the shield out it should be possible.Ideally you need some dental or other long reach surgical instruments ..
Pack the area behind and mix up some two pack epoxy and gently drip / flow it on top .Let it run round and wipe it under carefully.Build up layers .You only need a little initially to run into the crack , once that’s set then something more flexible like gutter sealant and some surgical gauze to wrap over the stuff before it sets .
Thanks @John Fiammetta@Johnny Hotspur GT , unfortunately today didn't go too well, I simply cannot tell where the smoke is coming from. Removing the heat shield gave me the maneuverability to work, but I can't find the exact leak! It seems like it is from behind the vacuum assembly shown above. I see a T connection there, but from my perspective, I can only see one end of that T connection, the side that faces the passenger wheel well, and I still don't think smoke is coming out from there!
Lathered everything up that I could see with JB Weld- still a leak somewhere. The mechanic that eventually pulls this engine to replace this eventually will have a good laugh.
Very frustrating, so close, the leak has to be right there.. yet so far...
I thought it maybe was this connection, but it actually looks to be coming from behind or under this connection,
So it must be this one? I can only reach the left side of this one. IF the leak is on the right side where the plastic meets the coupling, I guess in this case, I'm out of luck and it's an engine out to replace.
I'm confused, is this the vacuum leak over the tranny that requires an engine out repair (which i thought was fixed in 2007 MY), or the vacuum leak along the firewall that can supposedly be fixed by removing the steering rack? Hopefully the steering rack scenario!
I do not have vacuum lines over the transmission. But every place I talk to wants engine out to repair this, $6000 and up. My vacuum leak is somewhere along the firewall
Hello @silvertonesx24 ,
Correct, if you have the 2 grey solenoids under the center "B" at the rear of the intake manifold, you have no lines over the transmission, and being that you have a 2007, you should have the 2 solenoids as I stated.
Now, as the tee in question seems to be leaking on the other side of itself, why not try to access it from the other side of the vehicle.
As far as "engine out", the engine is not required to come out to access all the vacuum lines across the rack area, see AJ's thread linked below for the job he did, now on the other hand, some like to remove the engine/transmission package as they do a lot more work while they are in there, like remove the right side turbo to replace the starter, replace all O2 sensors, replace both EGT sensors, etc...
But, being that you just have that single leak, I would keep at it before having the engine dropped, don't give up.
Perhaps my leak is indeed coming from the Passenger side of that tee, now that I look at the video carefully, it has to be?
Blue arrow is the direction of the smoke that's leaking out. Red arrow, that would be the area of the possible leak (behind the tube with "Bentley Germany" on it. The yellow area- that's the T that runs up to between the intake manifold?
So difficult in there with a small space, scope, inspection mirrors, and a light. The smoke only shows me the general area of a leak.
The thing is I was able to squeeze the scope near that tee (it's a tough angle) yet I wasn't able to clearly see smoke coming out. The scale is just so close and the area so contained, seems like running air through the line and spraying down with water would be an easier way to find out (like finding leaks in air suspension lines)
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