scooby2 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Our 87 wagon, EA82 with AT, quit while driving along. According to the driver, it was running fine, and just quit. Towed to shop, where the tech said it seemed to want to start but wouldn't fully catch. Did a compression test which showed zero on one hole (don't know which) and none met specs. At this point, the tech called it quits and we towed it home for thoughtful reflection. Any ideas? I thought fuel pump failure or plugged fuel filter might explain the quitting, but coupled with zero compression leaves me confused. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj7291993 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Tech should have caught it, but check the timing belts. There's two, so you can loose just one side of the engine. If the left (driver) side goes, you also loose the oil pump and distributor. It may sound like it's trying to start when in reality, one side isn't getting compression because the camshaft isn't turning, alowing it to turn faster when those cylinders should be on compression. It's not too hard to pull the timing covers on each end to look at it. To pull the center, you'll have to remove the crank pulley, but you don't need to to inspect it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 +1 check timing belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superpoo93 Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 yep, been there too. timing belt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby2 Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 Gentlemen, thank you. I shall proceed accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby2 Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 You all were correct - in a sense. What had happened is the bearing on the left tensioner failed, which caused the belt to come loose. Replaced both belts and tensioners and are back on the road. Thank you again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Hope you replaced the toothed idler or it's bearing also. That and the 2 tensioners have about the same life span. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 The smooth idler and geared idler should be replaced about every 80,000 miles or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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