bad compression what to do?

[codepoet101]

i did a compression test and got 129psi on cyinlinder 1,2,3. 150on cyilinder 4.
then i did a wet test with a bit of oil in the plug hoes before testing, 1) 210psi 2) 178 3)173 4) 160.
anyone know why cyl. 1 would be so high? do i need a rebuild? am i fucked? im overwhelmed here any advice would be nice. my manual says 130psi min but my car runs strong doesnt burn oil. advice or preventitive measures im just getting a job and i want to do a 6bolt swap but i cant afford it right now. do you guys have anywhere you reccommend to get the swap done so i can call and get a quote. thanks

[bmeier]

if it runs fine just leave it. and save up for a rebuild later.

are you sure you did the check properly? you would be better off doing a leakdown test IMO

[slammed_cb7]

Yea, leakdown will let you kno the real deal, but really, if it runs fine, don't mess with it and save for a swap. You may find that a fresh motor runs really strong compared to what you get used to. When your wet compression results are that much different, as you said, you've got blow by. that means rings at the very least, and that is just that, usually when rings are bad, so are cylinder walls. It is the same as any other car project, like opening pandoras box. First it's rings, then it goes to the machine shop, then you sell the car to be able to pay for the full re-build. Also, for 210 psi on one cylinder, it may have built up and assload of carbon which more or less makes a high comp piston out of burn oil, hydrocarbons in gas, dirt and anything else that may have made its way in there.

[codepoet101]

ok cool how do i do a leakdown test anyone wanna come give me a hand maybe?

[slammed_cb7]

you need a leakdown tester and a solid air supply. You gotta rotate each cylinder to the compression stroke, thread the tester into the spark plug hole and set the gauge and read how much air is gettin through. Anyone have a tester?

[tsi_neal]

my advice is a 6 bolt swap is a waste of time...

if the car runs and doesnt use much oil leave it alone and rebuild what you have when your ready. Figure at least a month of downtime and 4k to do it properly.

[bmeier]

i agree, save your money till you can do a rebuild. If you buy a used motor you dont know its condition either and your back to square one.

I wouldnt worry about your motor failing as long as you make sure theres oil in it, it will be find chugging way with less than ideal compression.

My beater volvo has 400 000 km on burns oil and has low compression. I have the boost turned up and it still drives great, i just have to check the oil more often.