No Compression!!!!

[Mainegsxhick]

Well, this being my first post I will state a few things. I have a 1993 mitsu eclipse gsx, manual AWD turbo. I was driving to work this morning, accelerating from a stop in first gear up to about 3 thousand rpm, when the car cut out completely. Full tank of gas, oil precisely at the full mark, coolant levels excellant, temp normal, oil pressure ( was fine until car stopped, ) . I pulled off to the side of the road, checked the timing belt and it was fine. To be safe I called a flatbed and towed her home. I checked the timing marks with a friend and they are dead on. I then did a compression test and all the cylinders are coming up 0 (zero) PSI!!!!!!! Thats right, I said zero psi! All the pistons are moving up and down normally( see through spark plug holes) the valves are all moving. I changed the oil to look for metal and crap just to b safe. I tried to put 1-2 teaspoons of oil in the cylinders to try to come up with some kind of compression, but still nothing. Tommorow I'm gonna to a leak down test to see whats goin on, but I thought I would post since a search came up empty and see if anyone else has some input into the matter. Been frettin with this so much, a fresh mind on the matter would be helpful. - Josh

 

[jjbrasil]

well the only places u can loose compression is through your HG, rings, valves. If timing is perfectly aligned then i wouldnt think your pistons met your valves, and since your compression didnt rise with oil i dought its rings...and the only thing left is hg i guess but its possible to be something different. DEF do a leak down test and let us know the results.

Right now with my car im having MAJOR compression problems with me loosing compression to getting it back somehow and im not even kidding. Im trying to track down the problem and i have a thread posted as well, but i def know how u feel about it being wierd

 

[Mainegsxhick]

well the only places u can loose compression is through your HG, rings, valves. If timing is perfectly aligned then i wouldnt think your pistons met your valves, and since your compression didnt rise with oil i dought its rings...and the only thing left is hg i guess but its possible to be something different. DEF do a leak down test and let us know the results.

Right now with my car im having MAJOR compression problems with me loosing compression to getting it back somehow and im not even kidding. Im trying to track down the problem and i have a thread posted as well, but i def know how u feel about it being wierd

Sounds like you might have cracked ring lands, shifting and giving you compression sometimes and, then shiftin another way an not sealing. I will update tommorow for sure after leak down test. - Josh

 

[Defiant]

Just jumped timing. Bent valves. No need to try and do a leak-down. Yank the head, replace.

 

[TSIfreek]

Just jumped timing. Bent valves. No need to try and do a leak-down. Yank the head, replace.

That is my guess as well. You have bent valves. Unless you put holes in all the pistons. An open valve would be the only thing that would let that much air out to read no compression.

 

[Mainegsxhick]

Well I did a leak down test anyway, and no surprise in the fact that I have bent valves. I could put air in the cylinders and turn the crank while doing it and get air out of the throttle body and exhaust constantly no matter how much the crank was turned. The wierd thing is that all the timing marks are all good. Must be a freak incident where the timing jumped and ended up back where it was supposed to be. WEIRD. I Got another head from a friend and and going to put it on tommorow.

 

[Mainegsxhick]

So, heres the poop folks. I took the head off today and in the process of removing the timing belt, shrapnel that used to the balance shaft belt came pouring out. So, when the previous owner took the car in 20000 miles ago for a new timing belt, it was the classic ignore the b-belt situation. Balance shaft belt broke then went between the t-belt and thecrank pulley and made the crank jump timing thus leaving the cams still lined up together but not with the crank. The pistons are remarkably not hurt at all. There are only four very slighty bent valves though, bent just enough so they wouldn't close in each cylinder. In the process of putting on a new head I am putting on the mitsu 4 layer steel head gasket, steel intake gasket and blocking off the egr. - Josh

 

[oldschooltsi]

Depending on how much time you want to put in it have you considered removing the balance shafts? .

 

[Mainegsxhick]

Ya I considered it, but found that it was cheaper to just put another belt on, because I got a new one for free from a friend.

 

[Big Woo]

So when you looked again, all of the timing marks did not line up?

 

[BUCK]

No - Josh's original definition of "I checked the timing marks with a friend and they are dead on" did not include checking the Crank so in effect he didn't check anything.

& now that he has elected to forego the BSE & install a Metal Head Gasket we'll see Josh back here VERY soon...

What the hell, it's a 7 Bolt anyway...

 

[Big Woo]

Yes I agree, checking only some of the timing marks is as good as doing nothing, since every 180 degrees of camshaft rotation will result in at least two of the four cam gear timing marks lining up. Be it with the cam dowel pins up, down, left, right, and of course completely in denpendent of the crankshaft position.

I hope that there was no problem with one of the balance shaft bearings, because I have seen that as a cause of premature b-belt failures.

 

[Mainegsxhick]

No - Josh's original definition of "I checked the timing marks with a friend and they are dead on" did not include checking the Crank so in effect he didn't check anything.

& now that he has elected to forego the BSE & install a Metal Head Gasket we'll see Josh back here VERY soon...

What the hell, it's a 7 Bolt anyway...

Yeah, your right, here I am back here with what as I now know, typical results of mitsu 4 layer probs from not getting deckin done. Had I known this before I put the head gasket on I would have just elected to use a composite hg instead. Now me and the mad scientist have to rip apart the block and replace the rings you fried, ..... riiiiiiggghhhttt
Anyway, I should have fun tommorow takin er apart and then puttin er back together. fun fun

 

[Mainegsxhick]

you guys think that I can still use that head gasket with out milling if I use copperspray? I have my doubts though.

 

[Piranhaman33]

i found out that when you try to fix things half-assed your car tends to be down much more often

 

[Mainegsxhick]

no kiddin, . unfortunatly this was a mistake of inexperience with these cars. I have been mainly a dodge and chevy guy up until now so these are creatures of a completely different kind to me. I got this stuff pretty much down now.