I've been messing with what seemed like a valve problem for a couple of months now. Just recently after ruling out all other possible problems I started to get a greyish/white smoke comming from the area around #8 cyl. rockers. Well to me this means that I deffinatly have a problem with a valve being either bent, burnt or otherwise dammaged. I am going to remove head on my next day off to verify any damage. My question is should I do a compression go ahead and complete a compression or leakdown check prior to tearing off the head or am I just wasting my time? Once the head is off is there any way to verify that the rings on that piston are good? Thanks

 

A leakdown test can tell you exactly where you are loosing pressure. Obviously the valves would have to be sealing to show any ring problems. A leakdown test would confirm what you think your problem is. When you get the head off, check the cylinder walls for scratches and bring the pistons up and clean them so you can inspect them for damage.

Once the heads are corrected and put back on, you can then do a leakdown to test the condition of the rings.

How did the plug from the bad cylinder look? Did it show oil fouling?

 

I have a question, I am faced with a possible blown head gasket and was wondering how to do a Leakdown test. Which is easier and which is better between leakdown or compression testing? Thanks!

 

they are pretty much the same....except with a leakdown test you can tell Where exactly it's leaking , as with a compression test you can only tell that it's leaking..... i can do both test with my compression tester...it has a quick disconnect that hooks into an airline

 

So do you have any pointers for doing the head gaskets?lol!

 

yeah... actually i did em last week....if you have a lift and an impact.... its pretty simple... what i did was drop engine, cradle, suspension, and tranny in one piece onto jackstands.... they come out pretty quick...i had it out in about 1 hour and 45 min by myself , then i lifted the car up and did the swap, if you don't move the motor it will drop right back in place.... i have some pictures im gonna post just because they look cool as soon as i get them on my computer.....if you don't have a lift... it will probably take longer to do and of course it'll be tight. you'll want to make as much room as you can...so take stuff off if it's in the way... it might take you longer to take the extra stuff off, but it'll be smoother in the longrun.. i've done a million headgaskets on various cars... this one has surely taken the longest....

 

Is it possible to remove the heads the way everything is without moving the motor? Time really isn't a matter because I won't be needing the car anyway. Thanks!

 

it's possible i'm sure... but its deff not easy