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Low compression on #2 cylinder...need advice!

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EvilAWD10

15+ Year Contributor
42
0
Jan 11, 2006
riverside, California
I've searched the threads and found very useful information although my question is my car was running perfectly fine until the day it began throwing smoke out of my exhaust. I've read up on its either the valves or the piston rings. But one thing no one mentioned was the hose that connects from my intake pipe to the valve cover was drenched in oil. i did a compression at hot tempetures and it ran with 150-60-150-150. now im pretty sure it can very well be either rings or seals but could something else be wrong. say the pcv valve, it just seems I have high oil pressure. just thought id get some insight. also the smoke coming out my exhaust is white/grayish and increases when im at WOT. there is a small amount of smoke while im idiling. Before I tear apart the motor i would just like to make sure its not something small persay needing a catch can or the pcv valve. on a side note, my car isnt overheating so i dont believe its a headgasket. i also looked in the pistons through where the spark plugs go and only 2nd piston looked wet, while the rest were dry. i installed ngk spark plugs went driving for about 2 miles, took them off and all spark plugs were filled with oil.
 
Your compression findings are most likely the result of a blown head gasket. Check your coolant for traces of oil and oil for traces of coolant. The line from the valve cover breather being oil covered is normal and is usually eliminated as a first step mod :dsm:
 
My oil was pretty dark and there wasnt any oil in my coolant lines as i drained the oil and water out. That seems fine in that department. not to mention my car doesnt heat up. any more ideas. i guess im going to take apart the head today and see what i can find. one thing that would happen was i have my stock 14b installed. with the oil going from the valve cover onto the intake pipe it would go into the inlet on the turbo. i thought maybe that was part of the problem with the smoking. since ive done the compression i now know somethings wrong.
 
Removal of the head is inevitable at this point, though you could try a cylinder leakdown test first to see if the rings are bad. With the head off, it should be blindingly obvious if the HG is bad (which hopefully it is as is an cheap/easy repair).

Excess compression either past the rings or thru the oil galleys can easily overwhelm the stock PCV system and cause a "backup" in the oil returning to the pan. Under boost, with the PCV valve closed, the valve cover breather line vents the crank pressure/oil vapors/oil back to the intake :dsm:
 
So finally decided to tear apart my motor. I don't have any pictures to post up maybe i'll do it tomorrow. thing is my headgasket was perfectly fine. nothing wrong with it. what i did notice was on 2nd and 3rd cylinders it had some small scratch marks on the walls. i know no one can really state if it needs honing but my question is i felt it and you can't even feel the scratches only look at them. i looked over at the valves and it seems like maybe some on that 2nd cylinder might be bent. my question is can you make a judgement on if it would be the cylinders not by just seeing a scratch but actually trying to feel it? im going to take the head to a machine shop to see how the head is. Overall the walls looked very clean with no marks on 1st and 4th. 2nd and 3rd arent so bad but nonetheless they have small scratch marks. i just want to make sure i dont do something i dont have to since it would be my first time rebuilding a block.
 
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