jeffast Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 well the title i was curiouse what compression my car should test at currently i am getting withen 5psi of 120 per cylender edit: i know this sounds stupid but i am having power issues also how far up the temp gauge does the needle ride on your car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE ROSS Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 my needle only rises up to 1/4 of the way...don't know if that is normal or not, I just bought it a few days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 Is this the car in your sig.? My XT6 tested around 160-170psi in each cyl.. I don't think 120 is bad though. Sure someone else would know better. All my sube's at normal operating temp are between 1/3 - 1/2 on the gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted September 27, 2005 Author Share Posted September 27, 2005 k thanks this combind with the rate it eats oil men i need to get my new engine ready now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Yup, thats low. A leak down would tell more about rings, etc. Temp gauge on a Subaru with analog gauges reads just under half usually theres a mark around there to kindof give you an idea where it ought to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingbobdole Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 120 sounds low.... Did you test it warm or cold? My temp gauge has changed over the years... When it first was AT it read about the 3/4 mark.... Then I got the mt and it went to 1/2, then I changed the head gaskets (went byebye) and redid the cooling system and added the hood scoop... now it chills at the 1/4 mark. anywhere 1/4-1/2 is ok.... if its higher you probably need cooling system work... hoses, pump, T-stat, RAD cap or simply a flush with some new juice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 no problems persay i am just the kind of person who worries allot i guess my temp hgauge is fine then i am used to my truck 1/8 th of the way up when warm i know this is really bad but my car is eating more than a quart and a half of oil in a month any guesses as to when my engine will die? i need to pull lets say six to 8 months out of it till i can finish my new one Edit: i tested cold i have a $400 subaru raditor in my car that is 4-5 months old i put a thermostate in 5 days ago because the after market one was wrong temp i have been rinning thermostatless for 2 months also both my caps are new and i flushed the system when i did the raditor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 DO a wet and dry compression test. I am assuimng you already did the dry one. Take all the plugs out and squirt some oil in the cylinders. Crank the engine and if the compression goes up you have bad rings. If it doesnt you have bad valves. Sounds like you can have bad rings or worn valve guides. This should help http://automotive.mytelus.com/automotive/tips/view.spy?artid=593 nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_talk Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Chart from the FSM for EA82/T Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 evrey one thank you i will try the oil trick the next warm day i am pretty sure it is valves because the last time my car sat for more than a week there was allot of blue smoke the first 10 seconds or so i ran it edit: nevermind i won't be trying the oil trick when i read the article it says it won't work on subaru engines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 evrey one thank you i will try the oil trick the next warm day I am pretty sure it is valves because the last time my car sat for more than a week there was allot of blue smoke the first 10 seconds or so i ran it edit: nevermind i won't be trying the oil trick when i read the article it says it won't work on subaru engines Really? i must have missed that part. Lets start with a blank slate hrmmmm, Well if all your compression numbers are over 100 psi and even, lets assume thigs are ok. That leaves valve stem seals or valve guides. How much oil do you burn? What kind of power issues are you having? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 i burn 1-2 quarts a month and power wise it just doesn't have the guts it should i mean their is no pull what soever once you leave second and it takes over 2 miles straight level road to break 100 and it won't go over 105 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Does it idle fine otherwise? can you see the blue exhaust, is it on acceleration or decleration. i think accelertaion is valves, and deceleration is rings. Also loss of power is rings. Oil past the valves are valve seals and guides. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulwnkl Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Deceleration smoke is usually valve guide seals (the increased vacuum when you close the throttle sucks oil past the seals) while acceleration smoke is more likely rings and possibly other sources also. Did I understand right that this is your XT6, or a turbo XT? A turbo car this could be a turbo problem. As stated, the "oil squirt" thing won't work on a horizontal engine. Compression testing should be done with the engine fully warm and with the throttle wide open. Pull all the plugs at once and disconnect the coil and fuel injection control (spraying raw fuel in all the cylinders will wash the oil off them and cause a lower reading from poor ring seal). Then immediately start the test so you still have as much oil as possible in the ring area to make a seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 If its a turbo i mised that... turbo oil seals can cause high oil consumption. Also if the turbo is seized or dragging you will have lots of power and running issues. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 xt-6 i am planning to trubo charge it but i have to replace the engine first either way i cannon tell when it is blowing smoke i have seen it smoke once it had been sitting for a week waiting for a new alternator it has a small oil drip but that is like a drop a day nothing comes out while the engine is running Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbrand Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 As far as the "oil squirt" not working on a horizontal engine i beg to differ 1) theory-the oil will "squish" around the rings as the piston goes up and down-and provide a better seal if the rings are worn.Think about it-by the same logic the "oil squirt" shouldn't work on a V8 or any engine where the cylinders are not vertical. And that is not the case. 2) practice-When the EA71 in my 80 wagon started running like crap one day, I limped it back home and ran a compression test. 20 psi in one cylinder, others fine. Not ever hearing the "oil squirt" won't work, I tried it and comp in the bad cyl raised to 60psi-grrrrrr was hoping for a bad valve.........Professional engine rebuilder diagnosed problem after teardown to rings losing thier tension/tempering from thier heat treating. Unfortunatley they couldn't ever get thier act together to rebuild the engine so I picked up the parts(no charge) and dropped in a crate engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quattroPilot Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 although I have a turbo, I do have N/A pistons. To chase a major problem (which has resulted in engine extraction and FULL dismantle) I checked compression -cold engine, "dry"- and I got 150psi dead even across the board EXCEPT for one cylinder...it measured an astounding 60psi heheh, turns out this was the cylinder with cracked piston, one compression ring broken, and a severely mushed oil ring. Needless to say that was the causation of my performance problem (AFTER I'd accused the turbo for 3months, replaced it with a used unit, had the original rebuilt and then R&R'd back into the motor). So I'd say if you have a strong 120 then that's not too bad. Could be higher, but might just be caused by some trivial problem (especially if it's uniform across the banks), like disfunctional headgasket, valves and/or stem seals, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted October 1, 2005 Author Share Posted October 1, 2005 i dunno i am planning to tear down my spare enging this weekend the get it machined and rebuild it so i really only need to pull a few more months out of it also now i have a giant coolant leak yay occasionally it idles fast but that is it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoostedBalls Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 also, make sure the throttle is WIDE OPEN if it wasn't already. Do it dry, then wet and see if it increased by more than 20%. Leakdown is a better check but a cheapy tester is $50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted October 2, 2005 Author Share Posted October 2, 2005 the throttle wasn't i'll make sure to check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 i was checking coolant flow with the cap at a gas station the other night and at one point i saw a bunch of little bubbles in the coolant does this mean my head gaskets are shot the car consumes almost no coolant but it did have over heating issues when i bought it a raditor that wasn't welded shut fixed that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Subarus dont become steam engines when they have a head gasket issue, they tend to throw up once it gets really bad. Was the car warmed up when you saw the bubbles? The lack of heat is not a good sign... Can you have a shop sniff it for exhaust gases in the radiator? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 it was warm and yes it threw up infront of my house3 + times EDIT:however it was over filled the third time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 There really is only one reason why soobies tend to throw up .... HG, but do get a sniff test just to be sure. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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