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I am no longer living in ignorance, I just confirmed something I have suspected for years. I aquired a compression tester, not an expensive one, but it seems to work. I followed the instructions in this post, and tested my engine
Here are the results of the test....
Cylinder 1: 67 psi
Cylinder 2: 130 psi
Cylinder 3: 70 psi
Cylinder 4: 87 psi
During each test the dial moved up a bit with each stroke of the piston, I stopped the test when it seemed to stop moving, about two seconds, I think. Only cylinders one and three had pressures that were close too each other, and I was thinking even cylinder two had a pretty low results. I tried putting a cap full of oil in each cylinder, then retesting.
Here are the results of the second test...
Cylinder 1: 160 psi
Cylinder 2: 220 psi
Cylinder 3: 225 psi (this test took about twice as many strokes as the others for the needle to stop moving)
Cylinder 4: 190 psi
I s'pose this means my rings are going bad. Maybe every thing else is as well. The way I see it, I have two options...
Option 1: Do nothing. I have suspected my compression was a tad low for a long time. In the past when I've parked (in 1st) on a steepish slope, the car would roll back ever so slowly. Obviously, this is with the parking brake off. In recent times I've began to suspect that this might also be the cause of my hard starting, and poor gas milage. When starting, I'll need to crank it for a while before it starts. It's not a super long time, but it's long enough for any bystanders to begin to stare. However, it will always start. When the engine is still nice and hot it starts right up. My gas milage has ranged between 20 and 25 mpg, depending on the amount of highway driving that happens on the particular tank of gas. I'm not sure how long I can go on the way it is, it seems like the way it has been going I aught to be able to ignore it for quite a while, if I want. It's probably had this issues since I bought it. I bought it five or six years ago, and started driving it fairly frequently a year and a half ago. Folks always comment that the engine sounds great. It had 83,000 miles on it when I bought it, and it has now just passed 90,000 miles. It's my only car, so when I drive, I drive the Alfa. However, when I commute back and forth to school I take public transportation, so the Alfa is not driven every day. I will graduate next spring, so if I can wait until I have a job to fix it, that might be better. However, I'd love to take an additional two years and grab a masters degree.
Option 2: Fix it. I've got time now. I'm about to finish the spring term, I'm taking summer classes but it'll be less time intensive than usual, so I have time to work on the Alfa. I don't know a ton about engines, but I can't think of a better way to learn. What it comes down to here (the way I see it, and I could be wrong) is how much money it would cost, and what kind of special tools I would need. I can see these engine projects avalanching into an expensive project. As long as the pistons and the sleeves are ok, and if I don't need to buy a lot of specialty tools, I think I can handle paying for it. If fixing it increases my fuel economy, I have further justification in spending the money. Once fixed, I wouldn't have anything to worry about for quite some time (engine wise), which is great because I'm hoping to hold onto this car for ever. On the down side of fixing it now is the fact that it is now summer, the best time to be driving an Alfa Spider. I wouldn't be ready to fix anything immediately, a lot of research is still in order.
I guess what I'm looking for is thoughts, opinions and advice. Can an engine be rebuilt without replacing the pistons and sleeves? Am I likely to need a lot of machining? Or should I try and live with is for several more years?
Here are the results of the test....
Cylinder 1: 67 psi
Cylinder 2: 130 psi
Cylinder 3: 70 psi
Cylinder 4: 87 psi
During each test the dial moved up a bit with each stroke of the piston, I stopped the test when it seemed to stop moving, about two seconds, I think. Only cylinders one and three had pressures that were close too each other, and I was thinking even cylinder two had a pretty low results. I tried putting a cap full of oil in each cylinder, then retesting.
Here are the results of the second test...
Cylinder 1: 160 psi
Cylinder 2: 220 psi
Cylinder 3: 225 psi (this test took about twice as many strokes as the others for the needle to stop moving)
Cylinder 4: 190 psi
I s'pose this means my rings are going bad. Maybe every thing else is as well. The way I see it, I have two options...
Option 1: Do nothing. I have suspected my compression was a tad low for a long time. In the past when I've parked (in 1st) on a steepish slope, the car would roll back ever so slowly. Obviously, this is with the parking brake off. In recent times I've began to suspect that this might also be the cause of my hard starting, and poor gas milage. When starting, I'll need to crank it for a while before it starts. It's not a super long time, but it's long enough for any bystanders to begin to stare. However, it will always start. When the engine is still nice and hot it starts right up. My gas milage has ranged between 20 and 25 mpg, depending on the amount of highway driving that happens on the particular tank of gas. I'm not sure how long I can go on the way it is, it seems like the way it has been going I aught to be able to ignore it for quite a while, if I want. It's probably had this issues since I bought it. I bought it five or six years ago, and started driving it fairly frequently a year and a half ago. Folks always comment that the engine sounds great. It had 83,000 miles on it when I bought it, and it has now just passed 90,000 miles. It's my only car, so when I drive, I drive the Alfa. However, when I commute back and forth to school I take public transportation, so the Alfa is not driven every day. I will graduate next spring, so if I can wait until I have a job to fix it, that might be better. However, I'd love to take an additional two years and grab a masters degree.
Option 2: Fix it. I've got time now. I'm about to finish the spring term, I'm taking summer classes but it'll be less time intensive than usual, so I have time to work on the Alfa. I don't know a ton about engines, but I can't think of a better way to learn. What it comes down to here (the way I see it, and I could be wrong) is how much money it would cost, and what kind of special tools I would need. I can see these engine projects avalanching into an expensive project. As long as the pistons and the sleeves are ok, and if I don't need to buy a lot of specialty tools, I think I can handle paying for it. If fixing it increases my fuel economy, I have further justification in spending the money. Once fixed, I wouldn't have anything to worry about for quite some time (engine wise), which is great because I'm hoping to hold onto this car for ever. On the down side of fixing it now is the fact that it is now summer, the best time to be driving an Alfa Spider. I wouldn't be ready to fix anything immediately, a lot of research is still in order.
I guess what I'm looking for is thoughts, opinions and advice. Can an engine be rebuilt without replacing the pistons and sleeves? Am I likely to need a lot of machining? Or should I try and live with is for several more years?