What are your compression test results & your mileage? (‘normal’ KA24DE’s only please, or specify another engine)
Reason I ask, is my engine is back to normal, feels good etc. But the mechanic said that while he was checking my car for the no-start condition the compression was 150,150,125,100 psi. NOT acceptable! I am going to get my compression re-tested elsewhere to verify. I wonder if a low battery, cold engine, or closed throttle might have skewed results to cause this. If not, I may have piston/valve/HG issues…not cool. Or, would I DEFINITELY feel if the compression was this bad?
For the record, the standard is 151 psi minimum - 179 psi maximum, max 14 psi between cylinders on the KA24DE.
So out of curiousity, if you’ve checked lately, post your compression results and mileage!
a motor with that amount of variance should not run “normal” or “good”
50 psi variance, and your best is still below the minimum.
My ca18et has better compression than that, and that’s an 8:1 motor!
By all rights, this thing should run like a dog.
Do the compression test yourself, with the trottle open.
Hell, I’ll lend you my tester if you need it. No sense in paying someone money to do it, then have to pay to get them to do the diagnosis and work.
Throw the compression tester on it and crank.
If you have cylinders that are down susbtantially after rechecking them 100 times (well not that many)
add a tsp of oil to the cylinder through the spark plug hole and retest it.
If the compression comes up, bad news … your rings are fried.
If the compression doesn’t come up, it’s valve seals. I’ve found in and around 180,000km is the most to expect out of a KAs valve seals.
If that’s the case, you’re laughing. It’s a simple job to change out valve seals. And if you need it, I can hook you up with an on-head spring compressor.
humm…i’ll post mine tomarrow…hehehe…the rings aren’t seated yet, but i was hitting 150 just hand cranking the SOB…i’m willing to bet over 200psi per without seated rings…thinking closer to 250 per…hehehe…post pics tomarrow night when i get off work.
S13 with 209k on it, i got 160,160,165,160.
Make sure engine is up to operating temperature.
All spark plugs are out.
Throttle wide open.
Make sure Starter turning fine not slow because of weak battery.
Last but not least “MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A DECENT COMPRESSION GAUGE OR DONT BOTHER WITH THE COMPRESSION BECAUSE THE RESULTS ARE GONNA BE OFF”.
Because you need the maximum amount of air in the cylinder to get the pressure reading and if the throttle is closed not enough air will get in and the reading will be lower.
That’s a standard test for most cars not just nissan.
