gooblinn258

I just did a compression reading on my b18a1 and it came back 133, 130, 120,125. So i can see the third cylinder is struggling a bit. I poured about 1 tablespoon of oil in each cylinder to perform a wet compression test and they all came back around 160. Did i use to much oil, or do these results suggest bad rings on all cylinders?

minimarine09

Did you do the test with a fully warm engine?

B serious

iTrader: (1)

I don't like the idea of pulling and reinstalling plugs in a warmed up aluminum head.

OP....how did you do this test? Step by step. Those numbers are low...but they're ALL low. Could just be a tester that reads low. Mine reads high. Does this car burn a significant amount of oil? What led you to do this test?

minimarine09

How can you trust the compression numbers of a completely cold engine? I.e. piston rings not expanded? I'm not 100% certain but I'm pretty sure the manual says to do it warm. As long as you are competent enough not to cross thread spark plugs then you should be fine.

If the rings are not expanded (cold engine) then oil will always cause higher numbers because it's closing up the gaps the hot rings should already be closing.

minimarine09

http://www.team-integra.net/forum/bl...1-faq-how.html

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

Yeah I think it is important that it be done warm.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

135psi is the minimum healthy compression so your whole engine is struggling.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

The comp test results will read about 10-15psi or so higher when it's warm compared to cold.

Again...his results are low, but they're all consistent. So maybe the tester just reads low. OP's bored with this topic.

minimarine09

regardless of low numbers or not, the OP's question was if the test results were pointing towards the piston rings. if this were a cold test, it would be improper troubleshooting to see if the piston rings were the issue. now if the engine was warm and the oil raised it up 40 psi like the OP said, then it would be safe to say his rings are toast, or maybe the cylinders are out of round or something to that effect. but this issue could still very well be an issue with the valves sealing, or even a head gasket.

so back to my original question for the OP if he is not "bored" with this topic... was your engine at norm op temp when tested?

gooblinn258

Ok sorry, just saw these discussions on my topic. My forgot to hold the gas pedal down to WOT before doing the test. I did so, and my reading are: 145,143,144,140. These are still low numbers. I just replaced my head gasket and used arp studs, so I'm ruling that out. Also, I'm not burning white smoke, or losing coolant. My valves are not bent and i just replaced my valve stem seals. Since the nominal reading are 135, would it be ok to just keep running the engine?? I wanna try hard to stay away from another rebuild.

blackeg

what did the crosshatch and cylinder walls look like when you took the head off to replace the hg?

you can always do a leakdown and see where the air is bleeding out of

B serious

iTrader: (1)

My first post was asking for a step by step on how he performed the test. Ihad a good hunch he didn't hold the throttle down by looking at the numbers. So...I'm trying to help him find out if the rings are bad by asking questions to get a complete picture.

You got this though.

gooblinn258

The cylinder walls had no scratches, and was shiny in the light. Im guessing these are good signs. Im about to just crack down and buy a cylinder leak down tester. Nobody here in TN even knows what one is. But again about the numbers. Is my car still gonna run healthy with the compression numbers so low?

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Not even remotely. And where in TN are you that no one knows what this thing is?

lostforawhile

the fact that they went up when he did the wet compression check,indicated rings, the numbers would be higher if the engine was warm, but thats a comparison test, the numbers themselves are irrelevant, if they hadn't gone up at all it likely would have pointed to a valve issue.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Nobody else is asking about the obvious indicators of worn rings?

Does the car smoke? Are you losing oil? Are you low on power?

What prompted you to do this test? Is for fun?

tamboo

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cylinder-leak-down-tester-Cylinder-Engine-cylinder-Compression-lost-test-gauges-/231231134278?pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item35d6731a46

minimarine09

less we forget your 1st post also mentioned you dont like the idea of performing a proper (warm) compression test. especially when his question was about the rings, the engine being warm is important. i dont want to argue with you, in fact i find arguing over the internet pointless, but i cant just let someone get away with passing improper troubleshooting procedures.

if the engine was warm the rings would seal against the cylinder walls by being expanded, we need to know weather or not the engine was norm op temp during testing. because if the oil caused a rise in numbers that significant with it warm, then i agree for sure, rings all the way. but if the engine was cold, then we would still have no clue if the rings are the issue or not. wet or dry test, if its cold- we cant define any issue.

gooblinn258

The engine was indeed at OP temp. I turned it on and waited till radiator fan to kick on.

minimarine09

Awesome. I mean I wouldn't see why you couldn't run that engine still. The Honda engineers say it's still "healthy" until 135 so you should be fine. I would do a leak down test to really see how much compression you are losing but if you are trying to avoid a build, then it's good. At least your numbers are consistent. If it's good with Honda it's good with me lol. I would definitely keep an eye on your oil level though!

gooblinn258

Alright thanks for the reassurance. Im blowing smoke so I might just use thicker oil. Thanks for the help.