baccaruda Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 OK, i compression tested my car's engine today, got 100-105 in cylinders 2,3,4 and 25 PSI in cylinder #1. yes, twenty five. I bought the engine with 10,000 miles on it since a rebuild by a reputed member of the board, the engine was owned and sold to me by someone who doesn't post here that often. I don't want to get into names right now. I put the engine in my car a few months ago and have not driven the car much; the boost level is stock and the only modifications I've run on the car are open exhaust and free-flowed airbox. The rebuilder said (after i got back with the engine) : "Well the short of it is that the engine was out of my old 87 RX with 180 000+ km and i did a base rebuild , rings, berrings and seals it was in trade for a XT6 engine that he had ,the motor didnt need a rebuild but i had the heads off so i did the rest just to make sure . "just so you know he did get it hot once (not sure why , maybe bad hoses or faulty head gasket?) and it needed a head gasket on one side , it pushed out the coolent passages in one spot to the out side of the motor ,"small leek " so i did a re&re on both sides just to make sure , but that was all i know about it since he lives a long way away from me . "it should be a good engine but i dont know his driving habits but i did tell him how to break it in properly. " so my feeling is that the engine may have had the bad cylinder when I bought it. The car has not had proper stock power or gas mileage since i put the new engine in; i chalked that up to needing a tune up or timing adjustment, but the timing was OK and neither of those actions improved the way it drove. I'm asking for opinions regarding whether I should contact the seller and pursue partial or full reimbursement. I know the seller ran the turbo at full boost, and the turbo that came with the engine had a crack between the exhaust and the wastegate. thanks to all who have input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 i should add that i recognize that i may have a problem with the spark plug socket or something to cause the reading of 25 PSI, however, the gauge stayed put instead of leaking down, but i'd consider it reasonable to look at the cylinder some more. i should also add that the information i quoted was received after i got back from getting the engine, which took an entire weekend and had to happen when it did. i wish i'd had such information first.. i should further add that i don't really have the time, enthusiasm, money, resources, money, enthusiasm, or money to make another engine for my car or do a lot of fixing on this one. i should also subtract.. myself! bedtime. thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Well, it could be a number of things. Most are related to faulty parts/assembly. One possibility is a bad head gasket. I think I would check into that and rule it out before damning the rest of it. If you take the heads off, check for broken springs, etc. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stupidru Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Bad lifter or lash adjuster...it happened to me. The valve was stuck wide open. I didn't get that bad of reading though, mine was 60psi, the other 3 were equally 120psi. Got junk-yard lifter out of hatch, popped it in, 120 across the board. I like telling this story.:cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 I have seen many motors from "PROFESSIONAL" engine builders come with problems. So it is not unlikly that yous did too. overheated once? that could potentially be a bad deal. It could have been something as simple as rings installed improperly. How is/was the oil consumption? blow by? did you do a wet compression test yet? and rember turbo motors will have low compression to begine with. I built a motor once that lasted 54 miles. I never was able to figure out if it was the machine shops fault or mine. probably a bit of both. after that I bought a CCR engine and its been happy since then. I will be building a motor again but this time just for fun. sorry to hear about your troubles I hope it gets straightened out ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted January 29, 2004 Author Share Posted January 29, 2004 thanks guys. i'm going to take it to a shop for a leakdown test next week, i think. i'll refresh the post then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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