no compression

[THEKILLERWHALE]

okay so i was driving one day, drove completely fine, no issues, just went to get some food.

well on the way back, starts running a little sketchy, acceleration is shit, not responding much. gradually gets worse and worse.

finally, get to the last stop light by my house, thing wont stay running unless im giving it like half throttle.

so i get it to limp home.

go to check it out, wont start again. could only keep it from dying if i gave it like half throttle.

after doing some looking around, i found that compression in cylinders 2 and 3 are next to nothing, but cylinders 1 and 4 are perfect. i have some ideas about what the problem is, but before taking the whole engine apart, was hoping for some thoughts and ideas on what you guys think the problem is. im mainly confused because of how sudden the issue happend, out of nowhere, i wasnt even pushin it, just cruising.

thanks in advanced for all thoughts.

 

[GSTurbo1]

Could have jumped timing, bent your valves leaving two and three open causing super low compression. Best thing to do is take the head off, new head gasket and get your head checked by a professional.

 

[buhay6]

I'm no expert but I'd start with the basic checks first. One thing I've done in the past to see if it could possibly be a HG failure is get a friend to crank the engine over while you spraying soapy water around where the head meets the block if the head gasket has failed on the outter edges you should be seeing anything from small amounts of bubbles to large amounts depending on severity. This doesn't always work due to the fact some HG's will fail on the inside edges of the gasket. If its not the gasket then the only other thing I can think of is rings which means pulling the head off.

And what GSTurbo1 said. I'd start with checking the timing first then check for HG failure, If you still cant find nothing then all that's left is to pull the head. And unless the heads a fresh rebuild take it in to the machine shop for inspection! Do not cut corners.

 

[rlacasse1]

My guess is that you have a head gasket leak between the #2 and #3 cylinders. That's usually what happens when you have low compression on two cylinders right next to each other and not the other cylinders.

 

[THEKILLERWHALE]

thanks guys

ill pull the head first and check out the gasket!

if thats all fine, guess ill start digging :-/

 

[buhay6]

shouldn't take to long to pull the head, I did it on my first try in 30 min. just remember to put a jack under the engine with a block of wood between it and the oil pan because you will have to put the drivers side upper motor mount. Haynes manuals are handy to have plus very cheap!
Good luck man and let us know what going on.

 

[Mischif]

+1 on the head gasket.

 

[spyderdrifter]

shouldn't take to long to pull the head, I did it on my first try in 30 min. just remember to put a jack under the engine with a block of wood between it and the oil pan because you will have to put the drivers side upper motor mount. Haynes manuals are handy to have plus very cheap!
Good luck man and let us know what going on.

You actually don't need to brace the engine because removing the engine mount is not required to pull the head off. I just went through pulling my head off, engine mount stayed on since it bolts directly to the block.

 

[BurrowZ]

You actually don't need to brace the engine because removing the engine mount is not required to pull the head off. I just went through pulling my head off, engine mount stayed on since it bolts directly to the block.

This is true, but since you are going to need to do a timing belt job getting the head back on I would probably suggest doing it anyway.

 

[spyderdrifter]

I timed mine with the mount bolted in. This was my first time timing the engine inside the car, and was very surprised to get it right the first try. I credit that to a new tensioner though. Most likely just got very lucky. I'd still rather time it outside the car.

 

[buhay6]

I timed mine with the mount bolted in. This was my first time timing the engine inside the car, and was very surprised to get it right the first try. I credit that to a new tensioner though. Most likely just got very lucky. I'd still rather time it outside the car.

Ya I here ya there, I think i'll just pull my engine every time I do it.