DIY Leak down tester

[Carl B.]

I attached an image of a leak down tester I made to find the right motor for my EJ swap.  Also the link to a forum that has a writeup to build your own.  Mine is a little different because I used some things I already had in my tool box.  I havent used it yet but I'm going to check out an engine candidate today, I'll let you  know how it works.

 

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1421365

[JordanR693]

it will work just take the shrader valves out of the compression guage hose

[idosubaru]

nice hit, i've been wanting a leak down set up to put compressed air in the cylinders. 

 

ring and valve issues are rare on EJ engines but at least you can rule those out, can't really test the main concerns like bearings.

 

don't forget  www.car-parts.com, i guess you're in colorado which has some high pricing for Subaru's but i've paid $150 - $300 for EJ18's and EJ22's with a warranty and 125,000 miles or less.

[Carl B.]

So the tester worked okay.  Got some readings that were all over the place, but think it had to do more with finding a perfect TDC.

[Gloyale]

Leakdown doesn't need to be done at TDC.....just valves closed.

 

Infact, if an engine has good compression, putting air to it will force the piston down to the bottom.

 

Wanna really test?....install the leakdown tester with a cylinder bottomed out, then turn the crank with a wrench fairly quickly.......It should try to "bounce" back.