well, i disconnected the exhaust at the maniflod and nothing changed except the noise. i also checked the compression which is 11 t0 11.5 bars between all cylinders. now i am back to vacuum. i read a post by stevebfl about cleaning a port in the intake mainfold but it didn't seem to apply to my car. i'm still concerned about the erratic operation of the cruise control but can't find it. a search didn't help, parts search didn't show anything i could recognize. it must have a vacuum hose attached so i might have missed a leak there. also my car doesn't appear to have an egr valve so i am wondering if something in that area is clogged. my cd is very vague in these areas. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks. charlie