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Date:         Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:27:28 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Still running like crap, the saga continues - Compression Test
Comments: To: Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <140901c88a0a$40f36c60$0a00a8c0@OWNERMIKE>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

And that's s not to say that the ragged and lowish compression is THE REASON it won't run right. True, those compression #'s are out of spec, but 95 on the lowerst worst one isn't all THAT bad. It probably says in a german book that 121.5 is the min acceptable. Traditionally for gasoline engines 100 psi is considered the minimum OK.

So sure, it's not correct and it's not that great, but ...I forget right now exactly how it wasn't running right, but.........with those compression numbers......it's capable of starting well, idling good enough, and running quite decently. You can of course start working on the heads if you want - and someone should for sure. . On all the waterboxer engines that I take the heads off of, the exhaust valves........at least 2 or the 4 usually are leaking some. You know there are sort of two different worlds. One world is the very exact and german world..........where a shop will tell you there is no way to make it run right if it's not exactly within limits on compression readings. And 'that's sort of true' .......but it's not totally true. And.........to really get anywhere, ultimately........mostly head work is indicated. Really.......you should just pull all waterboxer heads at 60 to 80K miles and re-do things - valve job and head gaskets. So in that sense it really needs it. That's long term. It can only get worse generally speaking. In the short term it probably can be made to run better.....but if you're going to keep it, or want it right .......then head work is indicated most likely. If someone asked, " can I drive it 1,000 miles to some city without doing more damage?" I'd say 'probably." If they said 'can I drive it like this another year?" ......I'd say that wouldn't' be a smart thing to do at all. It wears out the rest of the engine too, not running right or having ragged compression. You're sort of at the end of the road you've been driving down all this time with this engine - as far as head work being due, and for some reason, it's also not running correctly either, is what I gather. Oh btw, if your cat is hollowed out, gutted, not recommended at all. Needs to be a good cat, or a straight pipe as a replacement. Hollowed out cat is verboten. ( not for smog or legal reasons - speaking in terms of flow and correct running - definitely has some affect. ) You could have a leak down test done - mostly though waterboxer pistons and barrels last extremely, extremely well. It's almost always the heads, the valves and gasket sealing - and I haven't found too many cracked waterboxer heads myself. It does happen of course, but I wouldn't have huge worry that they heads are not re-useable yet. How's your car repair and maintenance budget lookin' these days ? Scott

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Mike Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 2:43 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Still running like crap, the saga continues - Compression Test

Not good. Max differential between the highest and lowest readings should be 10%; so 135psi X 10% = 13.5psi as the max allowable difference between the highest and lowest cylinder readings, your MIN should be 121.5psi. Your lowest reading is 95psi = not good. Now to determine where the pressure's escaping; valve(s) or rings (or even a cracked head). A differential compression (leakdown) tester will show your mechanic where it's leaking, and then you can determine a course of action from there. Teardown is the other alternative..... I'm afraid to say, but it's a probably a valve job at least, a top-end or complete overhaul at worst.

Mike B.

----- Original Message ----- From: "BJ Feddish" <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 5:04 PM Subject: Still running like crap, the saga continues - Compression Test

> OK, my mechanic has had my van since last Friday and he called to tell me > it's done. Anyway he did a allot tests and some other work. Details on > that > later. He said the compression varied from 95 to 135. How bad is that? > What > have I got a month, year, decade left on this engine? > > Thanks, > Bryan >

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