You love your Mercedes-Benz, and we don’t blame you one bit here at Kinetech Motor Werkes. We are European automobile specialists. In this blog post, we are going to list the signs that your Mercedes has a vacuum leak in the engine. The engine uses the vacuum produced in the combustion chamber to power components such as the power steering pump. If the engine is leaking the vacuum pressure, your power steering may suffer. Here are other signs your Mercedes has a vacuum leak.
Engine Power Loss
Your engine will also lose power and its acceleration ability if there is a vacuum leak in the engine. The reason why is that the vacuum pressure leaking out of the hose fills the engine with air. This introduces excess air into the combustion chamber and creates a lean fuel mixture. Consequently, this mixture will cause your acceleration to lag in your engine to sputter and struggle to run.
Reduced Fuel Economy
Any time the engine is struggling to run, you will see a reduction in your Mercedes’ fuel economy. This is because the engine uses extra fuel in its efforts to produce power. Consequently, you will have to fill the tank more often until you have the vacuum leak in the engine repaired. Once the leaking vacuum hose is replaced, your Mercedes’ engine performance and fuel economy will be restored.
Unpredictable RPMs
Another sign that you’ve got a vacuum leak is unpredictable RPMs. This can be explained by how the vacuum pressure escapes from the leaking hose. If the leak is a steady one, with a steady flow of vacuum pressure escaping, your Mercedes will have consistently high RPMs. If the leak is coming out in spurts, the tachometer needle will bounce up and down with each burst of vacuum pressure.
Suction or Squealing Sounds
You may also notice that your Mercedes engine is making strange noises if it has a vacuum leak. Specifically, you may hear suction or squealing sounds coming from the engine. These are the noises that leaking vacuum hoses make until they are replaced.
Check Engine Warning
Finally, because there’s a lot going on underneath the hood, the engine control unit will turn on the check engine light to let you know there is something wrong in your Mercedes’ engine. In this case, the problem is a leaking vacuum hose.
Call Kinetech Motor Werkes in Indian Trail, NC, today if you suspect that your engine has a vacuum leak. We’d be happy to locate the leak and replace the hose.
