Quote:
Originally Posted by headshrink
I can believe that. I suspect I was lean down low, but rich up mid to high.
I have an air compressor, and a tire valve remover. If I remove the valve from the compression tester hose, to allow air to be forced the opposite direction, and connect the air compressor to that, would that serve as my ghetto leak-down tester? I did try the homeless man's version of leak-down testing by cranking it by hand and listening, but that wasn't very effective.
If my compressor idea might work, at what point do I turn the engine over to to seal the valves? Am I good as long as none of the cam lobes are compressing the buckets? I'm also assuming I'd want the cylinder at the bottom to give the most surface area possible to test... unless we're not isolating valves, but isolating which valve?
All that being said, I am willing, and am psychologically preparing myself to split the case if recommended. Since my problems started, I have since acquired a big(baby) brother for my little Ninjette, so I don't have the same urgency for transportation, and can take my time to do it right. If the recommendation is to start removing the engine to proceed with major surgery, will I need to purchase a case-splitter, or is the head easily removed without? Will I need a new gasket, or is it reusable like the valve cover gasket is?
I really appreciate your help guys. I was ready to give up and start parting it out, but am excited about learning/gaining a new level of experience, and getting her running again. Funds are tight, so depending on parts and tools, it may have a delay or two. In case I haven't mentioned it, remember I do have the original engine as a parts engine. Although I don't remember the numbers, the compression was poor on that engine, but this one is better on one side, and much worse on the other.
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You dont need to remove the engine out of the chassis to remove the head. After you remove all the head bolts, and both camshaft, and tie the camchain to the chassis tube over it, you just have to pull it. It's not glued. May be if it's stuck you can gently hit the edge with flat screwdriver. And take the metal gasket below it for reuse later.
For the tester, why dont you give a try? First you have to make sure the engine at TDC, which is right cylinder on top. Here you can test the right cylinder right away. Feel by hand whether air come through the intake port or exhaust. You can close the port by hand and feel the pressure. If you feel pressure right away as you let pressurized air into cylinder, that may be good indication if it is leaking.
As the engine has 180 crank angle, the left cylinder fires when the right cylinder at BTDC at the end of power stroke. So to find left cylinder TDC, insert a screwdriver through the spark hole of the left. If you follow TDC finding method on the manual, it should be the right cylinder that is at TDC. Then you crank the engine by hand until the screwdriver stop moving up. left cylinder should be at TDC. Then you can test the compression on the left.
Here may be the makeshift compression tester with air compressor looks like
http://forums.g2ic.com/tegtips/engine/30.html