Bad Cylinder... Need advice!!!

[steve.jacques]

Run a compression test on all 4 cyl. this will give you a little info if
you know how to read it...
Even better would be to run a cylinder pressure test, where you put in a
known quantity of air (usually 100psi) and the test equipment tells how
much of that pressure the engine maintains. The difference in pressure
would be your comression leak.
i.e. if you put in 100 psi, and the gage reads 65 psi, then you are loosing
35psi somewhere. Find out where the air is escaping (hissing out) by
listening to the exhaust, intake, and crankcase.... there's more to the
test, but I'm running short on time. Hope this will help somewhat...
P.S. any local repair shop (even automotive) should have the equipment to
do this test...

Steve Jacques
U-Mass Lowell FSAE

> Any tests we can run to help narrow the problem?  Any way to fix them 
> (easiest is best...Want all four working by Monday).  I think it could be

> due to the following, but have no idea how to check/fix:
> 
>   1. Sticky valve 
>   2. Scratched cylinder (we just put an air filter on today!)
>   3. Blown gasket (though I don't see oil in exhaust...)
> 
> Any others?  How can I check/fix them?
> 
> Extreme thanks!
> 
>                 Thor Johnson
>           johnsont at falcon.cs.mercer.edu
>      http://falcon.cs.mercer.edu/~johnsont
>                                                     
>          Have you seen the WarpMap lately?                    
>     http://falcon.cs.mercer.edu/~johnsont/warpmap  
>