AUTOOL Smoke Machine Automotive Leak Detector,0-0.46PSI Evap Vacuum Smoke Diagnostic Tester,Pipeline Fuel Leakage Detector Compatible with 12V Vehicles

This is great! Easy to use! I used a small amount of mineral oil. It makes a very good amount of smoke, it's adjustable, I turned the dial about half way. It connects with clamps to your positive and negative battery cable so it's totally portable to use outside if you're not able to work on your car at home. If you're in an apartment or don't have 110 AC, this is great because it runs off 12 volts DC. If you needed you could connect it to a power bank but the car battery works well . I was using it for approximately 10 minutes and it did not drain my car's battery to a point where it would not start. There was plenty of cranking power after I thought. I'm not sure how many amps it pulls . As far as the Air supply, It does not have a built-in one. You need external Air supply but you do not need to have shop air compressor, I used a bicycle pump with some acrylic tubing, a tire valve stem, hose adapters and a quick coupler for an air compressor hose for the female end to connect to the smoke machine. The bicycle pump method worked perfectly. I could control the flow of of air by hand. Very easy and there is no risk of pumping in too much air during your testing. You do not want to have a high amount of air pumping into that machine and filling up your engine Chambers with the too much air could blow something. Only need about 5 psi. No worries with there the bicycle pump method and it was very cheap to rig up. This is a must have diagnostic tool for all mechanics. This has helped me find vacuum leaks with ease. I would have never found this leak I had, it was a massive leak of air my car has in the throttle body area. It's in a tight spot. This helped me to determine where the exact leak was coming from. The TB gasket turned out to be fine after 35 years, it was the gasket to the air tube that seals around the mouth, which was an easy fix. I also had a small leak around and after market CAI intake elbow joint. I confirmed the repairs with the smoke test and the car ran much better. I recommend this.

This review is for the Autool Model SDT103 Smoke Leak Detector. I did a lot of research before buying this product. I opted for this unit, which has no internal compressor, because it has less parts to break and I have my own compressor. (It uses almost no air; just a trickle.) I also liked that it has flow control and a flow indicator. Please be aware, I've only used this unit one time, so I can't comment on its long term reliability.I read the instructions before using it, and the instructions are pretty well written, and describe how to operate it without a whole lot of difficult-to-understand broken English. The unit is pretty simple, so its operation is straightforward.I bought a little 3 ounce bottle of baby oil from CVS for a couple bucks. I put 20mL into the unit before turning it on (the instruction booklet said 10mL, but there were two stickers on the actual unit that said 20mL, so I used 20mL). I let the air flow through it for a minute or two before I turned on the smoke switch. The smoke took about 30 seconds to start coming out, and maybe 2 minutes before it got really thick. I used this for diagnosing a vacuum leak in the intake of my Ford Ranger. The smoke was nice and thick and was easily seen (see picture).The packaging is very good on this product. All accessories are in separate ziplock bags, very organized, very neat. All the accessories (hoses, wires, oil bottle, etc) seem to be very high quality. I was expecting a one-time use throw-away item, but this seems to be well made and has quality accessories.I'm surprised to hear that some people write reviews complaining about the smell of the unit after using it. It burns oil to generates smoke. The smoke smells like burning oil. Why would someone expect this unit to not smell like burned oil?This product saved me a lot of money going to a mechanic to diagnose the problem in my car. I'm also going to use it in the future to find exhaust leaks, and leaks in other sealed systems in my cars. I'm not a mechanic, but I do almost all the work on my cars and I think this will come in handy in the future.I recommend it.

I had low hopes for this due to the price compared to other "professional" units but it is surprisingly good! I've used it several times now in the process of restoring/ troubleshooting a '94 Land Rover engine and exhaust and it works perfectly. I'm glad I took a gamble on this one. I bought some UV reactive smoke juice with it, and while it smoked fine, it wasn't actually UV reactive, but it smells so bad it's easy to find the leaks!

I don't write many reviews, because I am not always over the top on a product that isn't a name brand that I know of. I needed to do a smoke test on my EVAP system. A local shop was going to charge me $150 to do the test. So I figure what do I have to loose paying $87 to buy this smoke tester. Well to my surprise the tester worked great and I was really happy. The only thing I will say negative is that the Battery hook aspect is honestly pointless. make it a plug in system and that is more useful. People don't do these type test out on the road to where a 12V hook up is nice. But if the 12 Volt way is the key, then make the wires longer. I had to test the EVAP on a Jeep and it is in the rear of the vehicle and the wires on the 12V connection would not reach, so I have to do a daisy chain using a pair of jumper cables to bridge the gap, but the system worked great and I found the leak. I saved money and even if the machine never works again I got my money's worth. But I think it will last and I will use it down the road if needed. The 12V cord issue is the only reason this didn't get a 5 Star review.

Works great, lots of smoke. Beware the heated mineral/baby oil will stink up your garage for a long time. So bad I am unable to use this inside my garage. In storage the smell is still so bad, I have to store this outside.For the money I am satisfied. Still could not find the Evap leak on my 2005 Suburban, but not the fault of the machine. Think the leak may be on the top of the gas tank where I cannot see the evap lines.The pressure gage is a must. It is missing on other similar priced smoke machines. Tells you there is a leak if the ball does not fall to the bottom. To test, close off the smoke tube and it will go to the bottom.

This "smoke" generator is the best out of other 2 I had previously. One died and another one just sucked really bad. Poor design and quality. Everything was leaking and they just shoved a heating wire wrapped around a piece of cloth inside a paint can etc. it was bad and frustrating. This one is just freaking awesome!!!! It simply works with my car tire inflator!!!. Now don't get misled. I did convert it. Because my car inflator end had connection for the tire plug or whatever it called. I had everything for that. Now about the flow... Oh damn it is great flow of vapor it is so nice and visible!!! So much in the kit that comes with it I have no idea what for. And yeah I know on the picture I didn't need all that many adapters, I just had it like this in my later bag and I was lazy to redo them I know some are extra there . Anyway, great product! No leaks, works great out of 12V battery and it is fine with 21 psi of the car tire inflator!

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this to work as well as it did. Came in a cardboard box not sealed. Everything was there. I did not realise it did not come with oil but, we had some baby oil so I used that. The bottle they give you to put the oil in had an extremely hard cap to the point I had to drill it. I put 20 ml in as suggested by the label on the unit.I have a spare car battery that I used to give it power, started it up and within 15 seconds I had smoke. I then proceeded to check a 1999 toyota v6 for leaks on the intake and I found them. Was able to stop the smoke from coming out but, still had a lean running condition. All in all, very satisfied the way this unit worked and would recommend to a DIYer.The smoke that it makes is very hard on breathing. Use caution.Update. In June of 2024, I went to use it and the float indicator wasn’t working. When you look up the warranty, amazon states contact the seller. They are in China. So good luck with that. It may end up in the garbage.Update: august 2024 - I contacted Autool and they answered my concerns. When I went to try it again it worked. It turns out it was user error on my part so I thanked them. They really seem to stand behind their equipment.

Great piece of kit. Paid for itself within 15 minutes of arriving on my doorstep (overnight - thanks Amazon!). Immediately helped me identify the cause of a mysterious air/fuel issue I’ve been fighting for weeks. Easy, cheap fix, but in a spot I never would have been able to get eyes on without a stream of smoke and an inspection mirror. Saved a lot of time and money swapping out engine sensors trying to identify the true cause of the issue.I chose this unit over other similar and dissimilar models particularly for the built in air regulator and the assortment of fittings. While cheaper units with the built-in mini air compressor are appealing, the compressors have a high failure rate and a very low airflow volume. This kit is as reliable as the compressor I connect it to. Plenty of smoke output, and the adjustable smoke output is helpful, as too much can actually obscure the source leak. Only slight complaint is I feel the manufacturer should have included a single use 20ml container of smoking fluid (mineral oil). I knew it didn't include any, and I already have butcher block mineral oil on hand, but the principle remains. Overall, an affordable, full featured and compact unit.

Smoke not come out , volume button damage . 12000 money cheating me in autool company

Funciona muy bien, super facil de usar , viene con todo y sus accesorios , muy recomendable!

Came damaged - didn't work. Came with the resistor inside the smoke generator disconnected, so it didn't even work. Dissapointed with quality control