So I broke something at the track last Saturday. The car was running great all day long. The car ran a best to date 12.2@114 and 12.2@117 (thanks to Brummellz). I was ecstatic! Then on my last run, during the 3-4 shift, the car started shuttering really bad. The motor was missing really badly. My friend Lucas was thinking I burned another valve just like I did last summer. So I packed up and drove it home.
I pulled the plugs first to check them. Plugs 2-4 were all intact and dry with regular carbon buildup on them and no peppering. Plug 1 was also intact, but had oil on the lower half of the threads near the electrode. Also, oil had kind of seeped out from cyl. 1 between the head and exhaust manifold. I looked onto the piston tops and #1 was wet. I also pulled the exhaust manifold off and there was oil around the #1 port area.
So I did a compression test. It was a cold test, which I know reads lower, but better than nothing. Cylinder 2 had 125psi cold, cylinder 3 had 130psi cold, cylinder 4 had 75psi cold, and cylinder 1 had 10psi cold. So I added a capful of oil to #4 and it jumped to 135psi. Added a capful to #1 and it made no difference at all. Still 10psi.
I'm a little confused about the 10psi compression. Last year when I burned a valve, there was 0 compression, I mean NONE! But now the gauge definitely jumps right to 10psi. So I'm starting to wonder about things. The head was rebuilt last summer because of a burnt valve, but the bottom end has 138k original miles on it. I really wouldn't be surprised if something in the bottom end is bad, possibly the rings, due to the oil coming out of the #1 runner. However, the car doesn't smoke at all. I don't know...
So basically after all of that, I need a leakdown tester to see where the problem is located... Does anyone have one that I can borrow for a day for a 6-pack?
Wish I had a leakdown setup. Well I hope it's something cheap and easy, good luck.
. So I have no need for it yet. But for the price I think its worth having around 
