vacuum leak
If the engine is sucking in extra air that shouldn’t be there, it can make the car run poorly or even stop. It’s like a hole in a vacuum cleaner that lets air leak in.
A vacuum leak occurs when air enters the engine’s intake system outside of the controlled throttle path, upsetting the air‑fuel mixture and causing rough idling or stalling.
Hear It Discussed
"So we'll go back. Plant B... And plant B is that it's a vacuum leak in one of the controls."
#2644: Who's the Bigger Slob? The Best of Car Talk
"...you'll get a slow response code in them that if it's not caused by something else like a mass air flow or a vacuum leak, yeah, you can get that."
How to Save Money on Car Repairs: Advice from Auto Experts Under The Hood show
"Because we had a vacuum leak, right? So with air cleaner on, the screw holding the air cleaner on, it creates the vacuum. We didn't even think about that."
Dialing in Goldberg’s Cobra kit car. CarCast
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Episodes Mentioning "vacuum leak"
#2644: Who's the Bigger Slob?
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