Compression Issues: Bad Rings or valvetrain, Pics inc,
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First off, car is MY 2000 with 140,000 miles. Never been over-revved. I have bought it in 2005 when it had 32,000 miles.
It all started with a check engine light showing misfires on all cylinders. (P1399, P0301-P0304) A compression test showed cyl 1,3&4 all to be around 240 psi, but cyl 2 to be around 120 psi. I didn't have a leakdown tester at the time, so I didn't perform that test but I decided to go ahead and check the valve clearances. I didn't find anything too wacky, 1 or 2 valves were out by .001 or .002, but they were not in the problematic cylinder. Cyl 2's valves were right on. I adjusted the others to be closer to spec and reassembled but still had CELs and same compression test results. I also tried a dry vs. wet compression test, and with the wet the compression on Cyl 2 came up to 140 or 160 . (I don't have the numbers in front of me) From here I figured "uh oh, it's probably piston rings," but I wanted to see if I could find any other clues. I should note that I never noticed any smoking from the exhaust, no strange noises, but the idle has gotten kind of rough lately, small pops or puffing sounds from the exhaust.
I then ponied up and bought a leakdown tester. I had trouble getting it to read consistently, but since I knew Cyl 2 was the culprit, I ignored the readings and just listened to see if I could determine where the air was leaking from. It was pretty difficult to tell, but my best guess was that the air was leaking into the neighboring #3 cylinder. I couldn't hear a leak in the intake or exhaust at all, only quiet hissing from #3. From here I thought I would replace the head gasket, even though my initial inkling was bad rings. Atleast I could do the head gasket myself in the garage and wouldn't cost a fortune. Also, I figured that once I got the head off, I might get a few more clues.
Last weekend, I finally got the head off. The gasket looks to be in as good shape as possible. I checked all the valve retainers closely and found nothing wrong there. Cylinder walls showed no scoring or marks. Pretty much everything looked as I expected. I did, however, notice 2 things that might be clues.
First, on the #2 cyl, one of the exhaust valves is dark, much darker than the rest. I don't really know what this may or may not indicate. Any ideas?
![](https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/bobertsiu/s2k/IMG_1782.jpg)
Secondly, I noticed what looks like a "hot spot" on the #2 piston near the cylinder wall on the intake side. It is pretty small, and all of the other cylinders have a similar discoloration near the middle of the piston, but this is the only one that is around the edge of the piston. It is pretty minor, though. I thought it might be from oil or exhaust "washing" past the rings. All of the other cylinders show a similar discoloration around the IN stamping. Is this typical?
![](https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/bobertsiu/s2k/IMG_1792.jpg)
![](https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/bobertsiu/s2k/IMG_1788.jpg)
Im just trying to see if either of these two things could help determine if the rings are indeed bad, or maybe it is something else in the head. I appreciate the help.
It all started with a check engine light showing misfires on all cylinders. (P1399, P0301-P0304) A compression test showed cyl 1,3&4 all to be around 240 psi, but cyl 2 to be around 120 psi. I didn't have a leakdown tester at the time, so I didn't perform that test but I decided to go ahead and check the valve clearances. I didn't find anything too wacky, 1 or 2 valves were out by .001 or .002, but they were not in the problematic cylinder. Cyl 2's valves were right on. I adjusted the others to be closer to spec and reassembled but still had CELs and same compression test results. I also tried a dry vs. wet compression test, and with the wet the compression on Cyl 2 came up to 140 or 160 . (I don't have the numbers in front of me) From here I figured "uh oh, it's probably piston rings," but I wanted to see if I could find any other clues. I should note that I never noticed any smoking from the exhaust, no strange noises, but the idle has gotten kind of rough lately, small pops or puffing sounds from the exhaust.
I then ponied up and bought a leakdown tester. I had trouble getting it to read consistently, but since I knew Cyl 2 was the culprit, I ignored the readings and just listened to see if I could determine where the air was leaking from. It was pretty difficult to tell, but my best guess was that the air was leaking into the neighboring #3 cylinder. I couldn't hear a leak in the intake or exhaust at all, only quiet hissing from #3. From here I thought I would replace the head gasket, even though my initial inkling was bad rings. Atleast I could do the head gasket myself in the garage and wouldn't cost a fortune. Also, I figured that once I got the head off, I might get a few more clues.
Last weekend, I finally got the head off. The gasket looks to be in as good shape as possible. I checked all the valve retainers closely and found nothing wrong there. Cylinder walls showed no scoring or marks. Pretty much everything looked as I expected. I did, however, notice 2 things that might be clues.
First, on the #2 cyl, one of the exhaust valves is dark, much darker than the rest. I don't really know what this may or may not indicate. Any ideas?
![](https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/bobertsiu/s2k/IMG_1782.jpg)
Secondly, I noticed what looks like a "hot spot" on the #2 piston near the cylinder wall on the intake side. It is pretty small, and all of the other cylinders have a similar discoloration near the middle of the piston, but this is the only one that is around the edge of the piston. It is pretty minor, though. I thought it might be from oil or exhaust "washing" past the rings. All of the other cylinders show a similar discoloration around the IN stamping. Is this typical?
![](https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/bobertsiu/s2k/IMG_1792.jpg)
![](https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/bobertsiu/s2k/IMG_1788.jpg)
Im just trying to see if either of these two things could help determine if the rings are indeed bad, or maybe it is something else in the head. I appreciate the help.
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Elistan
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09-07-2012 08:22 PM