Tune up...possible vacuum leak?

[MWJones159]

I switched out my plugs, wires, cap and rotor, and everything seemed to go fine, but I've noticed when I let off the gas, especially under heavy acceleration going up hills (I live in NC Mountains), it seems to hiccup or something of that sort. It starts to compression brake, has a short burst of air intake, then resumes compression braking. I think this is a vacuum leak but I don't know where it should start. wondering if maybe there is a common problem when you take the air box off (easier to access cylinders 5 & 6). there's only a few back there that I made sure were connected...maybe an improperly gapped plug?

[RedPath88]

There are not many hoses and since they are easily replaced and the cost is very low, it is a quick way to eliminate them as a possibility. They can fail even when you see no real obvious reasons for it, as they age the dry out and crack which can lead to leaks. Sometimes just cutting the ends off and reconnecting will do it, but again vacuum hose is cheap, so I recommend replacing them all and being done with it. Just make sure you do one at a time so there is no getting connections mixed up.

 

As for the plug gap, did you gap them yourself before installing or did you just take them out of the boxes and install? They usually come "pre gapped" but I never trust that. It is quick and easy to verify and adjust when needed before install... and I always end up adjusting the gaps on a couple of them when installing new plugs, even if only by a little bit.