skeelo Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I have a 1995 legacy. It is running on 3 cylinders. It started out just running a little rough but then progressively got to the point that its at today. I replaced the plugs, wires, coil and injector. Still misfiring. I did a compression test on it and came up with 60 LBS on #1 and 120-130 on the 2,3, and 4. I squirted some oil down the cylinder but didn't really increase enough to be able to say that it's definitely rings. Also that cylinder has about 30% leak-down. Hydrocarbon test was fine, so it's not a head gasket, could it be a valve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 after going through all of the simplest things, sounds to me like you've got a bad valve. nothing would be wrong with timing considering the other three are fine, but you might have a stuck/bad valve. pop the valve cover and take a look for anything that seems out of sorts. you're running the 2.2 right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tebriel Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 what's the normal compression ratio? could something like this be caused by the timing belt jumping some teeth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeelo Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 Yes I am running the 2.2. i will have to see what I can find under the valve cover. I wouldn't think it jumped timing I just replaced the timing belt 5 months ago. Plus if it did jump even on the one side then the other cylinder would be giving me problems too... but what about the tensioner??? Would that cause something like this? i would think it would effect all of the cylinders, not just one. I heard a rumor of the 2.2's sometimes having a problem with carbon build up on the valves causing them not to seat right. Is this a true rumor? could this be the culprit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tebriel Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 skeelo, that could definitely be a problem of any higher mileage engine, the valve faces wear away over time as well so they don't seal as well. but going from 120 to 60 is pretty drastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 +1. I don't think it jumped teeth, or the tensioner is bad. if either of those happened, you'd have problems with the other cylinders, and you'd be getting a weird noise from the timing cover. I want to port and polish the valves very soon on mine, and readjust the MLAs because I'm getting an obnoxious tick from them all the time when it's cold. it's probably a combo of the carbon and the lash being off, but yep I've heard that rumor too and I wouldn't count it out until you see the valves for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeelo Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 skeelo, that could definitely be a problem of any higher mileage engine, the valve faces wear away over time as well so they don't seal as well. but going from 120 to 60 is pretty drastic. It does have 229,000. 120 to 60 is a drastic difference, however that's just when I happened to do the compression test. It started running a little rough about 4 months ago. I kept telling my self to check it out but never did. Always too busy keeping the other cars on the road. So I would imagine that if I checked it sooner I would have gotten a higher reading. Each reading there after would probably show a decrease each time. I just happened to check it when it got really bad. I have heard some ticking from that side of the motor, usually when its cold out and it's the first start of the day. Didn't think a whole lot of it. It didn't last long, and it was -10F so it wouldn't surprise me. Could there be a correlation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tebriel Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 well yeah testing when it's cold out and the motor is cold is going to lead to a lower result, but it'll be lower for all 4, so the % of difference between them all should be the same. Does anyone know what the stock compression numbers are? even 120 seems low to me, but my saturn runs like 180-210 stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeelo Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 120 seemed low to me too. However it does have 229,000 miles on it. As I am the 4th owner, I have no idea how it has been maintained. But the most important thing with compression is that all have the same reading, that they do not show something completely different like mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
something different Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 i don't recall how valve lash is accomplished on the 2.2, but others with shims should be checked at 100k. so if you had a valve get too little lash, it may have started leaking, which will then quickly get worse if it is an exhaust valve. presureize that cylinder and see where you hear the air escaping. only 3 places for it to go....... tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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