rsprenkle

Just had a compression test completed as recomended. Numbers are listed below any thoughts or comments?

#1 6.5, 6.8, 6.5 kgcm2 @ 221rpm
#2 6.6, 6.4, 6.9 kgcm2 @ 222rpm

mobius911

Well, the short story is 6.9 or lower is failing. It may seem fine to drive, but you are looking at a rebuild in the near future.

rsprenkle

Could you define borrowed time. Only drive car for fun but I would like to make a plan.

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

Borrowed time is 1 day, 1 month or 1 year. Possibly more, possibly less. There is no number anyone can give you.

Fix the issue if you have plans for the car. Otherwise, buckle up and hope for the best.

iTs Ghastly

would you mind posting the town it was tested in? i will normalize the results for you and give you a slightly more accurate reading than the one you posted, though it likely is still considered failing. The name of the town is for the altitude, as it effects the compression readings to a degree.

Soldier is right though, with a failing engine you could have anywhere from days to years. keep on top of your maintence, and if you plan on keeping the vehicle, i would consider starting to put back a little here and there for a nest egg when it does go.

rsprenkle

It was tested at Murray motors in Muncy, PA

Would it be better to pull engine sooner before it is totally shot and have it rebuilt?

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

That's totally up to you.
I personally would not enjoy driving around with low compression. The car is meant to put a smile on your face, not a look of impending doom...

Khurram

Rebuilding it sooner may result in you saving some bucks, as less parts may go bad :-)
but then again, only after tearing it apart can someone answer that question.

On the borrowed time, Soldier is on point.
But based on my personal experience with my 04 GT, if you are on top of the maintenance, and esp cooling you should easily pull a year out of that engine. If your care is 04-05, get an upgraded starter, upgraded ignition kit and CAT Removal and you should do just fine..

rotarydude07

Plus it depends if your state run a sniffer test. My old motor front rotors were avg at 7.2 but my rear rotors avg 6.7. Car ran fine.. but wouldn't pass smog here in Cali.

rsprenkle

Well maybe I have big problems sooner rather than later. As stated previously I had a compression test yesterday and they also did a coolant flush and fill. This morning I went to work and thought I noticed a funny sound. I confirmed tonight on way home I can sometimes hear a rattlish/gurgle. I am really not sure how to describe it.

I have not been having very good luck with this car.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

That could just be air in the coolant line, if it wasn't burped properly (which is common). Put your heater to full while you drive, then park on an incline with the nose up. When the car cools down, open the coolant overflow tank. The system should have worked through any air bubbles at that point.

rsprenkle

Thanks Loki that worked. After I did that I checked coolant and it was about 8oz low. Guess the dealer did not do a stellar job. The other thing that was making it such a weird noise is that a piece of a rose bush was caught under the car and was dragging. How the freak it got there i don't know

rsprenkle

Thanks iTs Ghastly. I am looking forward to the normalized numbers but I will still make a plan to rebuild. First order of buisness for now is convincing my wife in letting me buy BHR mid-pipe and ignition system.

Khurram

Convincing your better more logical half is always a fun task ;-)

I pretended to be all stressed out due to the fact that car was not so reliable and needed so much maintenance. Coils+plugs+wires every 25k =$500 in Canada so we were looking at $1000 every year expense lol..

I told her There is a reliable way of reducing the cost to $250 a year.
She Asked How?
I replied... BHR Midpipe and Ignition system.

My better half pretty very smart, she snuffed the stinky tactic I applied however, she dug up a little on google, asked me about emissions and gave it a go lol..

Since that day forward, I have been getting her to order my parts for me lolll It's fun when your other half embraces your hobbies and gets their hands dirty but she is always more logical than I am and helps me make a better decision based on my financial circumstances :-)

May god bless her, and bless her with a huge bonus this year so i can buy my turbo kit lmaooooooooooo

iTs Ghastly

According to the normalizer at fixed.ca I believe your numbers translate to

Rotor 1 : 7.32 , 7.66, 7.32
Rotor 2: 7.43, 7.21, 7.77

Which actually is a good thing compared to your previous numbers. If I am wrong , somebody can correct me. Muncy is 499' so anybody can feel free to double check my work. Might only be for psi readings , but either way it's going to boost your numbers some. I'm doing this while at work so I don't really have time to be super thorough.

rsprenkle

Thanks for the info. You guys are a big help. I understand these numbers are low but am I still living on borrowed time? Thanks again!

Loki

iTrader: (1)

If the compensated numbers above are accurate, you're not doing that badly. Might want to checked the math via foxed.ca, but certainly less of an issue. Rotor 2 is uneven, which is not great, but on the relative scale of "showroom floor" to "new engine tomorrow" , you're in the "keep up on maintenance, premix and enjoy the car" segment.

When the day comes that you can't start the car hot, start shopping for a new engine then. Most failures are not catastrophic and become apparent well before the car is completely down.

rsprenkle

Cool. Will start premixing. I guess I will use amsoil as it will be easier to find. I changed coils, plugs and wires just recently so next order of business is to lose the cat and start working on the list in the new users forum. Thanks again y'all rock!

rsprenkle

I converted the kgc2 numbers from test to psi and went to foxed.CA and ran the normalized numbers compared to the chart lid in this forum and came up with the following numbers. Hoping I did everything right.
#1 8.1, 8.4,
#2 8.2, 8, 8.6

rsprenkle

Just ordered black halo racing mid-pipe!

I assume I will get a check engine light after it is installed.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

most get a cel some people dont

iTs Ghastly

Even better, sorry I suspected that it needed converted to psi, but at any rate the numbers went up, which is a good omen. 8.whatever isn't bad at all. Rotor 2 does have a little more variation than ideal as Loki said, but not bad overall by any means.

You can block CELs with a Cobb AP if that is something you wish to pursue. It goes on a code by code basis so u can just block CAT codes if u wish.

Idmetsu is generally considered the ideal premix but you can only buy it in bulk. If you have other 8 owners nearby that premix , some might split the cost for a box with you (I'll be doing that with a buddy when I put my new engine in) but any premix is going to better than none. I got in the habit of keeping a bottle and a small funnel in my trunk for fillups. Happy to hear about your compression values though. I would kill for 8s while I'm sitting at low 6s trying desperately to gather enough capital to get one from Rotary resurrection.

rsprenkle

I will have to look into that.

Wow rotary resurrection looks like a great price. I was looking around at pineapple and others and was a little surprised at the prices of engines. I know it's different but I just bought a reman 5.7 hemi last year for $2800 compared the $4k I was seeing around the web.

mobius1

I'm using Amsoil Saber Pro at the moment. Mainly because it is easier to get a hold of for me.