Ok, as I said in my sig, I bought this car for $1000, knowing that it was having problems. Lot guy said it was a misfire, probably needed a valve job. Well, I've driven the car and it drives fine, but I had the CEL read at Autozone, and it said a misfire on cylinder #1. Knowing this, I did a compression check this evening, since I wanted to change the plugs. Compression test was as follows. #1 - 70 psi, #2 - 220 psi, #3 - 218 psi, #4 - 230 psi. I did as my manual and either this site or the dsmtuner site said and added oil to the cylinder, and it raised the compression a lot, so to my knowledge, that means I have bad rings in the #1 cylinder.

Rebuild time?

Originally posted by Rylic
Rebuild time?

or just replace that ring :shrug unless you have big plans in the future..

Big plans? Not really sure. Most of my money is going into my 67 Ford Fairlane restoration. I guess a re-ring job would be enough, but this motor has 136,000 miles...do you think it would have enough cylinder wear to justify an overhaul? I hate to put in new rings if there's a lot of cylinder wear, but I guess the other three cylinders have great compression (or I would think at least..what is the normal 420a compression?), so a re-ring might be all it needs. I mean, if you're going to replace any piston rings, might as well do them all, right?

At the moment, my budget to fix/work on this car is $900, so I can either put it all into the motor, or do the minimum to get the motor into shape and put the rest into whatever else the car needs (like those alum. replacement handles Jasonlee hasn't pm'ed me back about). I guess I'm looking for advice. A little more horse than stock would be nice, but honestly, it drives pretty well as it is, and that's with engine problems.

In other words...I'm confused, help me?

Oh, and I think the clutch is chattering a little when the engine is idling.

Just call Howell Automotive and get the bottom end rebuild kit.

Oh, and the other question that bears some signifigance is, if I wanted to go with something like the Hahn or Star Stage I turbo kits, would I need to do anything special to the motor, or will it all work with the stock motor? As in, would I need better internals or anything?

Originally posted by Rylic
Oh, and the other question that bears some signifigance is, if I wanted to go with something like the Hahn or Star Stage I turbo kits, would I need to do anything special to the motor, or will it all work with the stock motor? As in, would I need better internals or anything?

Stage I kits work fine on a stock bottom end.

That's not bad then. It'd give me the option if I wanted to later on, without having to spend a fortune at the moment just to get it running on all four. I was looking at the Howell site and the Master Performance Rebuild kit was a little pricier than I wanted to spend, but then again, considering what I paid for the car, I think I'd still have less in the car than its market value. But, I don't know if I want to go that far, and I like the idea of just a bottom-end rebuild better.

Another question I just remembered. When I open the oil cap, I have a slight bit of smoke coming out. My uncle said it was a little valve blow-by. Can anyone confirm?

Originally posted by Rylic
That's not bad then. It'd give me the option if I wanted to later on, without having to spend a fortune at the moment just to get it running on all four. I was looking at the Howell site and the Master Performance Rebuild kit was a little pricier than I wanted to spend, but then again, considering what I paid for the car, I think I'd still have less in the car than its market value. But, I don't know if I want to go that far, and I like the idea of just a bottom-end rebuild better.

That's fine. Your numbers are fine minus the one cylinder so you can just do a ring job if you want to.

your other compression #'s are great. howell bottom end may be a bit overkill for your $900 lol.

just replace ring('s if you feel necessary) if there is no cylinder damage and clutch(if that is a problem).

stock motor is good for a stage 1.

edited because i cannot spell sometimes.

Happens to us all.

About the smoke from the oil cap...could that be from the low compression or is it more likely a valve not sealing?

Originally posted by Rylic
Happens to us all. About the smoke from the oil cap...could that be from the low compression or is it more likely a valve not sealing?

it's normal.

So do you just carry a rag to clean up the oil that spatters out?

Originally posted by Rylic
So do you just carry a rag to clean up the oil that spatters out?

oh, oil shoots out when you open it? maybe your not waiting long enough.. or you may have to replace a piston too..

Oh, no, not when you open it, but it looks like some might be coming out when the cap is on...hmm...maybe it was just from someone pouring in oil and not wiping up their spillage. I'll have to clean it up, let it run, and see if any more gets anywhere. I've only had this car since last Thursday, so it's one of those things I've more assumed than investigated. D'oh!

To me it looked like it might have been building up pressure or something and forcing oil drops out. Again, I'll have to check it some more.

Originally posted by Rylic
Oh, no, not when you open it, but it looks like some might be coming out when the cap is on...hmm...maybe it was just from someone pouring in oil and not wiping up their spillage. I'll have to clean it up, let it run, and see if any more gets anywhere. I've only had this car since last Thursday, so it's one of those things I've more assumed than investigated. D'oh!

yeah, do some runs with it and see if any oil is in the engine bay afterwards. if so, check the cap itself, or piston #1.

At 137000 mi you mite wanna take a look at the timing belt too. Mine snapped at 136000 driving it home after buying the car. Supposed to have been replaced twice by now. I would just take a look at it to keep you safe, bent valves and knicked pistons suck %$#.

Yeah, I'll do that, it's definitely on my list of things to replace first-off. Since I don't know how long it's been since it was replaced last. Gonna give it the works: oil change/filter, air filter, plugs (already replaced), wires, maybe have the fluids flushed/replaced...can't hurt to get it all freshened up.

Excellent plan. You never know how well the previous owner/owners took care of it or when or if they did the scheduled maintenance

Just so I understand this, how would low compression cause a misfire?

Originally posted by Rylic
Just so I understand this, how would low compression cause a misfire?

just not getting the correct air/fuel ratio in there with the bad ring or piston.

Here's an option. I just found a 96 Eclipse (all the info provided) listed in the paper for $600, wrecked on one of the front sides. Assuming the motor is good (since I haven't gotten an answer yet), would I be better off swapping it in, or rebuilding the one I have? It would probably be easier for me to just swap them in my shop, as opposed to tearing it down and having the block machined (if there is damage to the cylinder) and then rebuilding the motor myself or having someone do it. But, that is if the one in the $600 car doesn't have any problems and isn't a very high mileage engine.