compression and leak down test results

[— kung fu jesus —]

I did a compression and leak down test on my engine today. Warmed up the engine, pulled the fuel relay, pulled the spark plugs. WOT.

#1: 205
#2: 198
#3: 200
#4: 205

The head has been shaved and p&p'd

The leakdown:

#1: 4%
#2: 26%
#3: 6%
#4: 4%

I scoped the the combustion chambers with a snap-on camera/monitor. I could clearly see the cross-hatching on all four cylinders. There was minimal carbon build up. #2 leakdown was coming out the valve.

Block has 163,000 miles on it, the head about 70k miles. Wishing I had replaced the valves when I did the headwork instead of refurbing the old ones.

What are "normal" compression results for a 1.6 b6?

[Itsaparty]

Hello Jesus, manuals say compression for brand new motors is 190 all across.
In the 200's due to shave?

[Maikeru]

In the 200's due to shave?

Most likely. Your motor is healthier than my B6.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Thanks for the numbers!

Yes, the shave will raise the results.

[DaveL]

Did you use the HF leakdown tester? If so I would call those numbers inconclusive. Why do I say that? I was sucked in by price also. A good rester with gauges that top out at 200psi will give a much more accurate reading.

[— kung fu jesus —]

HF? Can you be more specific, please?

I used the dual gauge manifold at the shop. Set the air pressure to 50 on the manifold.

I was doing a 1.6 comparo with Vega (Sonny) and Satasii (John).

If all three cars were turds, mine was better because it had corn in it.

[AARP]

HF? Can you be more specific, please?

Harbor Freight.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Nope, not a HF manifold. I rechecked the compression today with another gauge, my own, and the numbers were within 5 psi of the first readings with the engine pretty heat soaked.

[Itsaparty]

what are you plans?
re lap them and new valve seals?
or new everything?

i've got a couple b6 heads sitting around.

[Satisaii]

The compression tester is a Snap-On. I think the leak down is OTC, and it is new.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Not sure on the plans. Would like to get new valves/springs/retainers/keepers and seals, but the car runs fine for now.

[Darthteddy]

9000 rpm motor !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joe morreale]

If the car seems to run ok then I would just drive the hell out of it. If your leaky valve gets worse it'll probably start missing or running rough. If that time comes then it's time to take the head off again.

[— kung fu jesus —]

yes, that is the plan. I get a miss sometimes, at low RPMs under load, but nothing that terrible.

[cjsafski]

The compression seems fine. Leakdown numbers are ok except for that odd 26% on number two. Since the compression on that cylinder is ok I bet the tester didn't seat right. Did you stick your ear neat the exhaust, tb or oil cap when doing the leakdown? That usually tells where any problem would be. Personally I wouldn't worry about the numbers. Have you checked the gap on your plugs recently? That may be a source of the miss you describe.