I blew the motor on my 97 prelude recently due to overheating, the head warpped pretty bad but i had it milled and resurfaced, i left the block alone, I put everything back on, the car runs great but the compression on all 4 cylinders are 150 120 120 150. Why?? I used new headgasket as well. The car runs even stronger and smoother than before, why???

 

Did you use a thicker head gasket? that 120psi cylindar doesn't sound good...

How did you go about the compression test? Was the engine warm? did you WOT on all the tests?

 

I used stock headgasket, and I tested with the engine hot and WOT. Before the headgasket blew, all 4 cyl got 225psi. I'm just curious why the motor still runs soooooooo smooth and strong with this kind of compression?

actually i replaced the headgasket twice, the first time i didn't resurface the head, and the compression was 120 90 90 120.

 

Did you check the block for warpage?

 

The block had no signs of warpage by looking at it, i felt the surface by finger and it was smooth, except some junk from the old headgasket which was sanded down.

I was thinking if the cylinder wall could be cracked, because when I first put everything together and fire it up, by looking into the valve cover, the brand new oil turned into milkshake, and there was vapor from the tail pipe, but after I drive it for a few miles, it gets normal, oil doesnt turn into milkshake after oil change now. and there's no signs of burning coolant(coolant level does not drop).

The car drives normal during the whole time.

I asked many people and no one could give me an exact answer to it.....