Hi all,

Have put up for sale my beloved 1997 Accord 2.2L VTEC. An interested person visited me with his mechanic wanting to do a compression test.

This is what he got
1 155 psi
2 170 psi
3 175 psi
4 170 psi

We later tested cylinder 1 by adding some oil through the plughole, and it blasted it way up to 225. So anyway, the mechanic says that the engine needs rebuilding??? The cars has ABSOLUTELY no problem whatsoever, starts fine, runs fine, no smoke (FYI the 4 sparkplugs where all the same color, a brown tan, though a little black on deposits on the surrounding ring, not the electrode (dry, not wet).

So, would the car really need a rebuild or something? Could this be the reason I get poor MPG (thats on another post..)

Many thanks!

Giulio

 

Have another compression test done by an independent mechanic. Even if the numbers hold, the lowest cylinder is only 11% different than the highest. 10% max is the rule of thumb but the FSM shows 178 nominal, 135 min, and 28 max variation between cylinders. Your engine is in spec. I doubt that variation would do much to reduce gas mileage; maybe one MPG.

 

A second opinion is always a good idea. I am not sure if a leakdown test would give you good information, since #1 is slightly lower than the other three cylinders.

 

How did they do the compression test?

Engine warmed up?
All 4 sparkplugs removed?
Fuel and spark disabled?
Wide-open throttle?
Crank until the gauge rises & becomes constant?
(yes or no for each point)

 

The buyer should use his mechanic's analysis to negotiate a better price.

For me, if a potential local buyer, the compression would be good enough.

Best.

 

Well, yes, the buyer would use that to negotiate a better price. That's why a sneaky buyer might want to mess up the measurement a little bit.