I'm in a pickle! Since I bought my 95 accord used (190k miles) about 6 months ago it has struggled to start. It cranks and cranks a while before it finally fires. But it always eventually started. Until now.

The starter is fine and the pressure guage shows all 4 chambers have decent pressure. one was over 200 and the other were mid to high 100's.

Smoke started pouring out of the exhaust recently and we that's why we checked the pressure. One had water spraying out so we believe the headgasket was blown recently when it overheated due to a leak in a heater hose. But it was struggling to start before the headgasket was blown.

I'll have to take it in to have the headgasket fixed. But, if there's something seriously wrong that's preventing it from starting I would just be wasting money fixing the headgasket.

Any ideas why it's not starting? No one I've asked has been able to come up with anything.

 

mid 100s it pretty low for a compression test. Coolant will definitely keep a engine from starting. If you get the head gasket replaced and it still has trouble starting I would look to the coil, plugs, and plug wires.

 

Is it worth fixing? If it will need a new engine it's not worth fixing and I'd just be wasting money fixing the headgasket. :-/

Is there a way to find out if I need a new engine before getting it fixed???