Insane Compression... Any ideas?

[cocheeze]

Hello,

I just bought a 1988 Toyota Tercel DX.

It is a one owner vehicle, has been well maintained, and has less than 100,000 miles on it.

It does not start due to low compression, and the readings (with oil) are as follows:

timing belt <- 210, 185, 90, 165 -> transmission

According to my haynes manual, the fact that the first stroke was low and each successive stroke the psi raised suggests that the culprit is the rings. The haynes manual even used the word "defintely."

I really hope that the haynes manual is wrong.

Does anybody know of something else that could be the cause of this insane compression? It just seems too unlikely to me that a engine so well maintained with such low mileage could already be in need of a ring job. It also seems strange to me, assuming the rings ARE the culprit, that all of the rings would wear so differently from one another.

If it IS the rings (god forbid), does anybody know of anything I can do (save a full on ring job) that will extend the life of the engine and get the compression back up to normal?

thanks for any answers in advance, and sorry for the long post.

- Casey

[Tercel GTS]

I'd run a can of seafoam through it first. Carbon could be holding the rings to pistons.

[Doctor J]

With compression reading like this the car still must start, but it will run rough.The rings may be worn, but the low comp pressure in cyl.3 suggest an aditional problem. How the spark plugs looked when you pulled them out? Was there oil on the threads? Ash coating on the insulators?I would definitely check the valve train components for cyl. #3.

[cocheeze]

the plugs looked wet. oil or fuel, i can't be sure.

there were little chunks of carbon on the number 4 and number 2 plugs, in between the tip and electrode.

i thought of trying seafoam, since these cars are known for carbon build up, but I thought you had to run the car in order to add seafoam, and thus far I haven't been able to get it to start.

is there a way of adding seafoam without running the engine?

people keep saying it should start, what should i check next? I know the timing and spark are not the problem...

thanks again for the advice!

- Casey

[Tercel GTS]

3 things needed for an engine to run, fuel, compression and properly timed fire.
You have enough compression.
You say you have plenty of spark, does #1 on the cap line up with #1 plug? Is the order correct?
After that fuel. Is the fuel making it to the rail? Are the injectors getting signals?

[Doctor J]

Before proceeding , is the car equipped with 3E engine?
Clean and dry the spark plugs.
Install the plugs plugs, then attach a vacuum gage to the intake manifold and crank the engine .The reading must be about 5 inches.
Make sure that the fuel pump works.

[cocheeze]

yeah, the engine plate says: 3E-L83A.

does that mean something that I should know about?

i am going to make sure fuel is getting to and through the carb next, i suppose.

i report back as soon as i have something to report.

thanks again

[cocheeze]

ps: it's not fuel injected. it has a carb.

[Donald]

Replace the plugs. Get a can of starter fluid and squirt some into the throat of the carb, or just pour about a table spoon full of gasoline in there (This is called priming the carb). Crank it with the gas pedal to the floor. It should start and run for just a few seconds. If it starts then everything is ok except the carb.

If you have carbon chips on the plugs, then you might have carbon stuck on valve seats keeping the valves from closing completely. Hence low compression.

If it sarts by priming the carb I would look into replacing that carb with a Webber 32/36 carb.

[toyomoho]

On most engines the PSI will build over a few piston strokes, this is normal. The compression is high enough for the engine to run. Once you get it going, put some carbon cleaner in the gas tank or down the carb.

[cocheeze]

so the fuel pump was bad, i took it out and sprayed some carb cleaner through it and unsiezed it, now it appears to work normally. i replaced the plugs and primed the carb with starting fluid. with the pedal to the floor it acts like it wants to turn over but it never does. a slight bit of smoke comes out the tailpipe, but it wont catch. as soon as i let go of the starter it quits, no run on.

any ideas?

[Tercel GTS]

Did you verify the timing? What color is the spark?

[cocheeze]

spark is blue.

the timing was correct when it was parked, but just to be sure, how do i verify timing?

thanks!

[Tercel GTS]

Turn the crank to 0 TDC then pull the cap off the distributor. Ot should be pointing at the wire that goes to #1 cylinder.

Is spark blue at the plugs on all 4 cylinders? Don't guess.

[Doctor J]

Make sure that fuel pump is actually delivering fuel to the carb.