compression check on 88 subaru

[blizzak]

I'm trying to sell my 88 subaru and a after an inispection a mechanic said the compression was low in two of the cylinders (75 and 90). The car runs great and has the same (limited) amount of power as its always had. Does this really qualify as low compression? Is there any possibility that the mechanic messed up the test... he appears to be a subaru hater.

 

Thanks

[calebz]

Of course theres a possibility that the mechanic messed up the test.

 

You don't say which 2 cylinders are low, nor do youo say what the compression of the other 2 is, so I will make some guesses.

 

1) cylinders with low compression are on the same bank.

2) Very possible you have a small HG leak.

 

Note: Never take your car to a Subaru hater. They are generally full of irrational fear and, being that old soobs are some of the easiest cars there are to work on, if he can't adequately function on an old soob, I would question his ability to work on anything else.. Thats just my point of view though. I worked on many, many other types of cars befor I ever laid hands on an Suabru.

[MilesFox]

ok, here it goes.

i will assune the lower redings were on one head. lets assume a bad head gasket. ok, now lets try to verivy that:

does the coolant boil over(compression in the coolong system)

does the cooland disappear?(coolant loss into combustion chamber or cranc case, white steam out the tailpipe its burning in the cylinders)

brown sludge on dipstick, case breaters, and oil fill cap(coolant in oil)

oil in radiator(oil passage leaking into coolant)

 

its possible the head may be cracked, but the syptoms would be loss of cooland and steam, but even compression. can be not a problem if you keep water in the radiator, depending on the rate of loss

 

suppose now we have varified a bad head gasket, or we have decided to remove the heads and replace them anyway. here is what to look for:

a good gasket will stick either to the block or the head. a bad gasket will try to separate on both sides, stickingh to block and head and peeling away as you pull the head.

look for shiny spots on one cylinder, or one head, the suspect head(lo comp. reading) shininess like its real clean is where water and steam are burning, that is a dead giveaway of where the gasket failed

there bay be cracks between the VALVES, but that is NORMAL. dont sweat those. crack to worry about is in the exhaust ports. i HIGHLY doubt you have cracked heads

 

if you dont want to fix it, sell it to someone who will. dont junk it ,please! the car is really not that bad off. i myself would buy a car like this if it ran and drove(to get it home) and with the mind to fix it(knowing about the problem)

[blizzak]

The test was written out like this: 75 120 150 90 -- don't know if there is a standard form. I didn't take the car there, some potential buyer did. Thanks.

 

 

 

Of course theres a possibility that the mechanic messed up the test.

 

You don't say which 2 cylinders are low, nor do youo say what the compression of the other 2 is, so I will make some guesses.

 

1) cylinders with low compression are on the same bank.

2) Very possible you have a small HG leak.

 

Note: Never take your car to a Subaru hater. They are generally full of irrational fear and, being that old soobs are some of the easiest cars there are to work on, if he can't adequately function on an old soob, I would question his ability to work on anything else.. Thats just my point of view though. I worked on many, many other types of cars befor I ever laid hands on an Suabru.

[blizzak]

I don't think I have cracked head gaskets either. The exhaust is clean, I'm not losing coolant, and there's no oil in the radiator. I'm not planning on junking the car, just trying to scope out how bad the damage is. From what you say it sounds like it's not so bad and there would be plenty of people will to pay me a couple of bucks and take it on (especially considering it still runs great and I just took it over the pass a month ago). Can you belive the mechanic had the gall to write "This is a bad car" on the insepction report? It took great restraint for me not to call him up and threaten him.

 

Thanks.

[rallyruss]

it does sound as though the motor is not so healthy. I would repeat the test my self to be sure. compression testers can be had rather inexpensive. test it with a warm engine.

 

also the 150 and 120 are too far apart. all cyl. should be within 10 psi on a good motor.

 

yes you can have a head hasket failure without coolant loss or cross contamination. im with Calebz.

 

if those numbers are good then he was correct in his diagnosis. motor not healthy. not good for a buyer.

[mudrat79]

Blizzak.....

 

Call me, I am in Eugene, And A Subaru Lover......

 

We can look at it together, and I can tell you where the motor stands on the Good/Bad meter.....

 

Talk soon, John

 

P.s. # is in Signiture at bottom.....