Had my 04 for a few weeks now. Refreshed the ignition system, battery, and added a series 2 starter. Cranking speeds are 300+rpm and the car will reliably start hot or cold but it usually takes 5-10 seconds of cranking to get going. Sometimes hot starts will take several attempts. This morning I happened to be running an errand and had an opportunity to park on a small incline. So when I came back 5 minutes later instead of trying to start with the starter I wanted to see what happened if I tried to do a clutch pop start. I rolled forward maybe 10 feet, achieved I think 3-4mph on the speedo, popped the clutch, and the car was instantly on and idling.

Do the engines with low compression fire up that easily when popping the clutch? Did I achieve a higher starting rpm popping the clutch than I do with the starter and that's why it fired up instantly? I was kind of expecting the car to keep rolling down the hill spinning over the engine for a second or two before it caught and was surprised at how instantly it fired up this way especially with it hot.

 

I want to say we could do the math from your speed to the tire size and all the way up through gear ratios to see what instantaneous rpm you achieved by popping the clutch. However assuming you seem like you've come to terms with low compression I think we can go out on a limb and say it spun fast enough to reach that starting compression it likes.

 

Yes, and yes. I budget rebuilt my engine... only replacing seals, springs, and housings winter of 2018. She always started via popping the clutch on slight decline or even a running push, but took ~200 miles for compression to increase sufficiently to start via the starter. ~17k miles boosted... she starts cold and hot ,and is still pulls strong.