liquid in vacuum gauge line

[joe_db]

Here is a weird one:
The hose to my vacuum gauge is clear plastic for the last few feet to the gauge. It runs horizontally about 6 inches with a little low spot. It has slowly collected an ounce or two of brownish liquid. Not sure if it is gas, gas and oil, gas and water, or all three. I pulled the hose of the gauge and the engine sucked it back in, so I never got to get a good sample. I have NO IDEA how it got UP the hose when suction should make it want to do the opposite.
So far my working theory is it is fumes from the manifold that condense far up the hose where it is much colder than the engine end. If not that, I have no clue

On a related note, the idle speeds up with the hose off. This leads me to think the mixture is rich at idle. The plugs don't foul, so it isn't super-rich.

[Dave Neptune]

Joe, normal indeed. Just from the "air" moving back and forth in the tube is from the manifold and has fuel in it as well as any residues in the manifold. It won't hurt or compromise your readings. It's kinda like water condensing in the gas tank vent line if you have a low spot except it won't hurt anything.

Dave Neptune