Spent 5 hours tracking down a vacuum leak on my old Jeep... turned out to be a $3 grommet

So here's the thing... I was chasing this rough idle on my 1998 Cherokee, probably swapped out the IAC valve and cleaned the throttle body twice, spent maybe 4 hours on it across two weekends. Then a buddy swings by and says 'did you check the PCV grommet?' Took me 20 minutes to pop the old one out and see it was all cracked and letting air in. Now I'm wondering if I should've just taken it to a shop upfront and paid $100 or if that learning process was worth the time. What do you guys think, is the hands-on experience worth burning a whole Saturday messing with stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

wood.noah1d agoMost Upvoted

Bet you'd still be chasing that vacuum leak if the shop misdiagnosed it and charged you double.

lily_schmidt5323h ago

WAIT you swapped the IAC and cleaned the TB TWICE before checking a grommet? Man that's painful but I've been there. Sometimes the simple obvious stuff hides right in plain sight. I bet that buddy is never gonna let you live it down either, definitely worth the learning though.