Unpopular opinion: I chose a $40 vacuum gauge over a $300 smoke machine and it found my leak in 10 minutes
Everyone at the shop told me I was crazy for not buying a smoke machine, but I grabbed a cheap vacuum gauge from the parts store down on 5th. Used it on a 2008 Silverado 1500 with a rough idle and found a cracked intake gasket in 10 minutes. My foreman laughed when I pulled it out of the box, but he quit laughing when the gauge needle dove. Anyone else skip the fancy tools and go old school for vacuum leaks?