Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Well, as the title states... I just did a wet / dry reading of my cylinders' compression on my 88' D15B2 with the throttle held open. Cylinders 4 through 2 were at near the minimum mark (around 130 psi). Cylinder 1 had No compression at all, zero. Funny thing is, even though that cylinder doesn't fire, it idles and drives alright except for a lack of power on hills. Any ideas on what might cause this? This engine has 300K on the clock too.

I've narrowed it down to:
- Bad rings / oil rings
- Major leak on the head gasket surrounding Cylinder 1
- A valve / auxiliary valve caked with carbon and stuck open.
- Valve seals / guides are shot to hell.

Also as of late, it has been leaking small amounts oil over all corners of the engine just letting it idle in the garage for 10 or so minutes at a time.

What do you think?

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

...anyone?

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Don't think this is a head gasket, all the rest is very probable. 300K on engine? I guess swap will be cheaper than rebuild, unless you have some emotional attachement to the current engine :)

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

300k? thats not a whole lot is it? like 160,000 miles right?

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

a head gasket would cause it to run real ****ty, and blow white smoke.

bad rings would usually be accros all cylinders not just one

valve seals only keep oil out of the combustion chamber so that would not cause it, but can cause oil consumption

i say a burned valve or some carbon buildup on it. run some seafoam through it and see if it helps. most guys just do the seafoam like the directions say, but the inline 6 jeep guys use a turkey baster and put some dierctly into the cylinders when the plugs are removed. then turn the engine over a few time BY HAND, wait a hour, do it again, wait another hour, do it again. reinstall the plugs and start it up. then follow the directions on the can. and definatly change your oil after your done.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Um, k means thousand. As in 300,000 miles.


Jared how do you turn the engine over by hand?

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Socket and wrench on the crank pulley bolt with tranny in neutral.

I'm thinking a burnt exhaust valve. But I'm still a small fish in a cloudy pond with this Civic stuff.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Honestly, for the money I would just swap in a new motor. If its just a commuter you can get a non vtec D for dirt cheap. Hell, I know a guy with a del sol who did a B16 swap......he "sold" his non vtec D series engine for a pack of smokes.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

i know that engine - just rebuilt mine.
you can leave the engine in the car. can follows my posts by using the search here with my name and with "rebuilt engine" or something like that.
did not have the money to replace the bearing - all except for one was ok. and the one had a scar down the middle, just put it back in.
carefully keep the bearing order and put them back in the same location.
i followed Haynes; except changed the oil as soon as i returned from sealing in the bearings.
if that is the original distributor - i would replace it.
you probably have bad rings

edit; error above.
i followed haynes except changed the oil as soon a i returned from sealing in the rings, not bearings

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Yeah, by the "300K," I meant 300,000 miles. But yeah, I am also thinking it's the exhaust valve. As of lately, it's been blowing alot of water / carbon out the exhaust too. I already bought some new valve seals (probably wouldn't hurt to replace those anyway) but I've yet to disassemble anything so far.
I was fearing the fact that I may have to remove the engine, but I'll read up on your post on how to get around that, because I don't own an engine hoist, nor do I really wanna take it out anyway.

I was told by a good friend / excellent mechanic, that by replacing just that valve / all the valves, it's likely to blow the bottom end out of it once it's started and on the road, due to it's extreme amount of miles. Any opinions on that?

PS - I have already ran a mild amount of Seafoam through it as well. 4oz. through the fuel tank, 2oz. through the vaccum line to the brake booster and another 2oz. into the valve cover's oil cap. Made a small improvement, but the cylinder was dead when I bought this car a month ago on the lot, so this probably isn't due to the carbon / gunk deposits breaking loose and clogging the valve. The plugs were also replaced after about 100 miles of driving it with the Foam.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

i don't get the ast part. if you remvoe the head, take it to a good engine shop and have it inspected and get a valve job, and the mating surface decked to make it flat. that would probably cost about 200-300 bucks and would be toatlly worth it. the bottom end might as well recieve new rings and bearing if you going at it and do the whole engine.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Well see, here's the thing. I own 3 other vehicles (2 V8s and a V6) and I bought this strictly for better milage and dirt cheap insurance. I only paid $500 for this car and don't really wanna sink alot of money into it.
I know that this engine is probably due for a rebuild, but like I said, I don't want to put alot of cash into this at this time. Maybe further into this year, I may buy a new crate engine for it, but not for now. I'm gonna be doing all of this work myself too, given my cheap-skate policy with this car (heh).

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

just get the same motor for between 100-250 bucks

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Where? I've only seen engines goin for about 400 n' 500, used.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

dont understand about blowing the bottom end out ??? guess talking about the crank bearing going out?? dont know. If the bearings are good and the journals are good - i see no problem there.
there is a water test of the valves. with head off and rocker assembly off, turn the head upside down and fill the top cylinder with water.(the springs will have the valves in the closed position). the spark plugs need to be in, and tight. let it sit - see which one leaks - replace the valves on that one. (this test is not in the Haynes)
valves are hard to do without the right spring compressor. need one with an overhead arm that gives you room to work. i bought a cheap one from harbor freight. i spent a lot of time compressing the valve to get the keeper out. the valves are 10 bucks at hi-lo oreilley. can take the head to a head shop - may be 100 to 200 or so; saw a place in fort worth that sells those heads for i think 230. but i did my whole rebuild for probably 100.
I had a lot of build up of carbon in the port of cylinder #4. used a drill to loosen it. test of compression showed bad rings in cyl #2.
did rings, valve guide oil seals, and the 2 valves i needed, and the cam and crank seals. new oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket (which i have yet to install)
except for that one crank bearing, all the bearings looked OK.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

Yeah I'm not totally sure what he meant by "blowing the bottom end out" either, but I'm assuming since the rest of the engine is so old with so many miles, it'd be tough on it with some brand new hardware or something, I dunno.
But I've got it parked inside a storage garage I own with all my tools n' **** there, so I'll be trying to undertake this project here either today or soon.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

is that junk yard.
might be good might not.
i am sure you can return; but look at all the work

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

You mean my engine that's currently in it? Nah, that's the factory engine from 1988.

RE: Zero Cylinder Compression...
 

no
was responding to "riceburner"

Have you had any overheating problems? It you have zero compression, I bet you've cracked a ring or blown a hole in the top of a piston. Head gasked would have to be completely shot and would probably affect two cylinders. Valve seals couldn't possibly be bad enough to cause this issue either. I suspect a broken piston. Take out your plugs and see if there is any metal filings on any of them. Also, drain the oil and see if there's any metal in there too.

Please do not bump 4 year old dead threads.