0 Compression across the board

[Nos~4G63]

I attemted to start my project car friday and after 30 minutes or so of charging the battery and cranking without the car starting I decided to do a compression check. There is no compression in any of the cylinders. I figured the timing was fine because I started the car a few months ago and it was idling fine. I just turned it off to fix an oil leak.

Could this mean the timing is off and just needs to be readjusted or set? Or does this mean there is bent valves? I thought maybe the timing belt jumped a tooth and needs to be re-set but my friend said if it jumped a tooth then it bent valves.

 

[candela]

Ouch...honestly its probably a valve thing. This has happened to me in the past 2 times. Im not sure about all the valves but I dont know, even with timing being off it still probably get a little it between overlap.

 

[BoostinAWD]

Was there any sort of clicking while you were turning over the motor?

 

[Tevenor]

Valves. Even if its mistimed, you should get some compression.

The real question is why the valves? Valves just don't bend on their own.

 

[CraigB]

I have seen many of these motors totally wash the cylinders and no compression at all. If a battery is weak and you crank it it will still spary fuel and not start. Or if it just sits for a month or so. Hyundai had a recall for this that added a piggy back module to the ecu for this on cold starts. I have seen people pull cylinder heads thinking they had bent valves and all they needed to do was to clean the plugs and spary a little oil in the cylinders. So try to spary a little oil in the cylinder then do a copression test before you tear it down.

 

[jw]

Does the car even crank? It it crank, it should at least have some reading unless the valves are bent. I remembered using a broken compression tester and the valve inside wont hold any compression after cranking so it kept dropping to zero afterwards.

 

[Nos~4G63]

No clicking while turning over the motor.
The compression stayed at zero it never moved at all. I was cleaning the plugs while my friends did the compression test. I will try the oil in the cylinders and a new set of plugs.
I thought it was just bad gas and a weak battery until I did the compression check; Im really dissapointed.

 

[CraigB]

Let us know how it works out for you

 

[Nos~4G63]

Im gonna try that tonight. How much oil do I put in each cylinder?

 

[BADAZZGSX]

You say you shut the car off to fix an oil leak? Did you maybe unplug or disconnect something and forget to redo it. Sometimes you just bump stuff loose by accident and don't realize it. I would check all the basics first. As far as the compression, is your gauge any count? Sometimes the release valve on them sticks, or the spark plug fitting is clogged up and not letting pressure through. You might want to check that too. Hey, sometimes strange s&!^ happens.

 

[ILOSE]

Definetly make sure the gauge works first. Tryt it on another car or something. Then go from there. It is highly unlikely that all the valves are bent. just from fixing an oil problem. Check that gauge first then let us know what happens.

 

[CraigB]

Put about 2 caps full of oil in each cylinder the crank it over a few times with the spark plugs out. Then put the new plugs in then try to start it. It may take a few minutes

 

[HighPsi91]

A dose of oil isnt going to cure zero compression. Even washed cylinders shot rings and bent valves should make some sort of compression.

 

[CraigB]

Well I don't know what type of gauge he has or how good it is but I would try a dose of oil before I would take the head off. I have seen washed cylinders with less than 20psi

 

[Nos~4G63]

OK I did the oil thing and besides a little white smoke coming out it did exactly the same thing. I didnt have time to do a compression check though.
The timing marks dont apper to line up. The one on the left is about a qaurter inch higher than the one on the right when the one on the right is pointing level to the left. They are supposed to line up right? Could this be my problem?

 

[jw]

That could very well be the cause. Just cross your fingers it didnt bend any valves. I have seen someone jumped about 4 tooth with no damage done to the head. You may also be that luck.

I wont want to the crank the motor any more to prevent any more damage done. You have to find out why the timing jump and redo the timing belt to see if that helps.

 

[CraigB]

The marks on the cams should line up. That is a problem if they do not line up if the crank is at TDC. Did you remove the timing belt to fix your oil leaks? If you didn't touch the timing belt since you last had it run it should not be off.

 

[Nos~4G63]

Never removed the timing belt; just exhaust manifold and turbo. I did spray the belt with WD40 the last time the car was running because the belt was sqeaking.
My only guess is the belt jumped when I shut the car off; I do not here any ticking or tapping whatsoever when cranking so maybe my valves are fine.

 

[BrokeTurbo]

I wouldnt use WD40 on that belt. It may have caused it to become slipplery, and skipped over. Ide get the timing belt replaced, and everything checked out. HTH

Gabe
92laserawd

 

[Tevenor]

Originally posted by Nos~4G63
Never removed the timing belt; just exhaust manifold and turbo. I did spray the belt with WD40 the last time the car was running because the belt was sqeaking.
My only guess is the belt jumped when I shut the car off; I do not here any ticking or tapping whatsoever when cranking so maybe my valves are fine.

Belts don't squeak, pulleys squeak. And timing belts tend to skip not on shut down but on start up. It gives the exhaust cam time to 'relax' and cause enough slack to slip, especially when you do something stupid like spray it with WD40.

Once the piston bends a valve, there is no more ticking because the piston has bent the valve out of the way. The valve will always lose when it comes down to piston vs valve.

 

[Nos~4G63]

I guess I will be pulling the head then. I wont have any time for the car till thursday.
Should I try re-alligning the timing marks on the cam sprokets and putting a new belt in or should I just pull the valve cover and or head in order to see the damage. I dont want to pull the head if its just a timing problem.
BTW~How much is it to rebuild the factory head?

 

[Tevenor]

If you ever think the timing belt has slipped for any reason, always always always retime the timing belt using the 2 cam sprocket timign marks, the crank timing mark, and the oil pump drive gear timing mark. This a relatively painless procedure and it could save you all the trouble of pulling the head only to find out your valves are fine. I am not saying that your valves are indeed fine, but better to check the easy stuff and maybe get lucky than do tons of unecessary work.

 

[CraigB]

Like Tevenor said make sure the timing belts are right. And never put any type of oil on a timing belt. If you get it running after you fix the timing belt this does not mean your valves are not bent. These cars will run with bent valves. I would do a CLT after you get it going.