taking care of some maintenance, changing plugs, after removing my plugs and looking down at the piston tops, all the pistons look to be covered in carbon, except #3. #3 actually looks sort of wet.

I know #3 is usually hotter than the rest, so could that be why it doesnt have as much carbon buildup? or do you think this sounds like a head gasket issue? Ive done compression tests, #'s are pretty solid, #3 doesnt stand out compared to the rest. #1 is a little lower than the rest though but within the acceptable "range".

the car doesnt seem to smoke that much (its a turbo setup so I expect some, but its not excessive by any means) at idle or WOT. but I do get an occasional over heating on hotter days which can be "fixed" but turning on the heat. I dont seem to be losing any coolant though, and doesnt seem to be any oil in the coolant. Im in the process of working on the cooling issues as well.

would a leakdown confirm a head gasket problem? I know they are good for checking ring leakage, but not sure about head gasket.

 

If you have good compression test results and no coolant in your oil, I would suspect a leaky fuel injector. Is the #3 spark plug wet and/or does it smell like gas?

 

yeah I forgot to mention the plugs look fine, not wet from oil, coolant, or gas, no particulates cooked onto them. I actually tried to smell the cylinder to see if it was gas, but it wasnt a strong gas odor I would expect if it was gas.

 

i'm thinking its probably fuel... how old is your radiator? maybe time to replace if you're overheating or not enough cfm from fans for the type of setup you maybe running

 

do a leakdown test, if all passes dont worry about it.