p-stone

Did a compression check on my stock z6 (except a header) and came up with 170 across the board except for 140 on the #1 cyl. I have some oil leaking from the bottom of the crank pulley and also some oily residue by DS motor mount. All of this is leaking from underneath the timing cover (which I haven't removed yet) but I believe it is the cam seal. My question is, could the low compression on my #1 cyl. be from the bad cam seal, or is it possible that a valve adjustment could bring up the low compression. I would guess that if the compression is good in the other 3 cyls. the valves shouldnt be too far out of adjustment, and maybe I'm looking at a bigger problem such as a bad valve. Summary, low compression in the cyl. nearest the suspected bad cam seal so what are possible causes? Thank you very much for any help and sorry for the novel. Preston

hondamark35

study up some on how these motors go together, it'll make everything else you do easier. the cam seal only seals crap out of the oil system and keeps oil in. the cylinder, however is sealed by piston rings, valves, and the head gasket. if the valves are bent then they may leak, otherwise that's not your leak.

i think the next step would be to have a cylinder leakdown test done. but these can be expensive sometimes. honestly though, 170 and 140 aren't too terribly bad. if the car feels good on power i wouldn't give it a second thought.