Compression Test without a cambelt

"Juan-Pierre Herboth" > wrote in message
...
> Thanx Jim and Tegger.
> @Tegger:I spend some time going through the stuff on your site and it
> was quite helpful. From what I can see finding the o-rings under the
> rockerarm support is difficult in my area (Cape Town, South Africa).I
> was only able to find it at the dealership. By the looks of things the
> previous mechanic had a similar experience and decided to just put
> liquid sealer under there and the 1st problem I found when the car
> died was oil soaked spark plug. Your site helped me realise the seal
> problem.However like Jim said,I cant get to a shop and dont have a
> compressor.Ill check but I have a little electric compressor used for
> pumping up tyres.Its not very powerful, but I see the manual talking
> about 250 kPa,which is 2.5 bar, my tyres is pumped to 2 bar so that
> little thing should work Ill just have a look at how to set it up.
> @ Jim: I was thinking the same thing about the compression. The car
> ran fine and the oil usage was good.Little oil leak, but its an old
> car and my other old car also had a leak,its something I can live
> with. Ill put the head and check the clearance.If Im looking for a big
> gap then it should be rather easy to see.It was interesting to note
> that #1 cylinder had the intake valves full open,so I think I might
> have 4 valves that might be bend.Ill check and let u guys know.
> Thanx again guys.e stuff on your site and it was quite helpful. From
> what I can see finding the o-rings under the rockerarm support is
> difficult in my area (Cape Town, South Africa).I was only able to find
> it at the dealership. By the looks of things the previous mechanic had
> a similar experience and decided to just put liquid sealer under there
> and the 1st problem I found when the car died was oil soaked spark
> plug. Your site helped me realise the seal problem.However like Jim
> said,I cant get to a shop and dont have a compressor.Ill check but I
> have a little electric compressor used for pumping up tyres.Its not
> very powerful, but I see the manual talking about 250 kPa,which is 2.5
> bar, my tyres is pumped to 2 bar so that little thing should work Ill
> just have a look at how to set it up.
> @ Jim: I was thinking the same thing about the compression. The car
> ran fine and the oil usage was good.Little oil leak, but its an old
> car and my other old car also had a leak,its something I can live
> with. Ill put the head and check the clearance.If Im looking for a big
> gap then it should be rather easy to see.It was interesting to note
> that #1 cylinder had the intake valves full open,so I think I might
> have 4 valves that might be bend.Ill check and let u guys know.
> Thanx again guys.
>
>

You appear to have hiccups or something. Not only did your message appear
twice but each copy had two copies inside. Bit like those Russian dolls.
--
Tinkerer

On 08/16/2011 09:38 PM, Juan-Pierre Herboth wrote:
> Thanx Jim and Tegger.

> @Tegger:I spend some time going through the stuff on your site and it
> was quite helpful. From what I can see finding the o-rings under the
> rockerarm support is difficult in my area (Cape Town, South Africa).I
> was only able to find it at the dealership. By the looks of things the
> previous mechanic had a similar experience and decided to just put
> liquid sealer under there and the 1st problem I found when the car
> died was oil soaked spark plug.

while that leak is annoying, it's not very important except on #3
cylinder. the rocker pillar on that cylinder has the oil riser and if
that leaks, you could oil-starve the whole rocker assembly. if you're
absolutely stuck on the o-rings, find the smaller size that fits the oil
riser, and use sealer on the rest.

re sealers, that rtv silicone stuff is next to useless. the companies
that make it have GREAT sales people, but its physical properties are
inappropriate for engine internals, particularly hot oil. [which is of
course why engine manufacturer don't use it when making the engine in
the first place! check out http://www.epm.com/material_guide.htm -
"Poor resistance to oils"]

ime, the best sealer out there is something called "hylomar". it's a
blue goo and it remains tacky - it never sets. and best of all, it's
removable with the correct solvent if you do any re-work, so you don't
scratch anything up removing silicone crap.


> Your site helped me realise the seal
> problem.However like Jim said,I cant get to a shop and dont have a
> compressor.Ill check but I have a little electric compressor used for
> pumping up tyres.Its not very powerful, but I see the manual talking
> about 250 kPa,which is 2.5 bar, my tyres is pumped to 2 bar so that
> little thing should work Ill just have a look at how to set it up.

> @ Jim: I was thinking the same thing about the compression. The car
> ran fine and the oil usage was good.Little oil leak, but its an old
> car and my other old car also had a leak,its something I can live
> with. Ill put the head and check the clearance.If Im looking for a big
> gap then it should be rather easy to see.

it's not always easy to see because the valve head tends to obscure
things. but it shows up big time on the rocker arm/valve lash.


> It was interesting to note
> that #1 cylinder had the intake valves full open,

one cylinder's valves will /always/ be open if the cam and rockers are
in place. but it doesn't mean they're bent or damaged - it's normal and
what you want to see. the cam has 4 "preferred" positions due to the
springs and the cam lobes. when in any one of these 4, the pistons can
freewheel. if you replace the rockers and haven't fiddled with the
adjustment, you'll find the rockers go back on with exactly the same
adjustment as when they came off.


> so I think I might
> have 4 valves that might be bend.Ill check and let u guys know.
> Thanx again guys.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

@Jim:As always thanx for the reply.I saw the extra hole on #3 cylinder
and was thinking it has to do with oil supply.Interesting thing is
that some of the liquid sealer the mechanic used was actually
partially obscured the oil hole. I should be getting the o-rings from
Honda tomorrow and Ive already gotten all the other stuff.Will most
likely assemble tomorrow and update on what I found.Thats if it doesnt
rain=)Im working in the open so rain wont do.BTW what is it that you
do?I see you giving advise on multiple honda forums.Thanx again.

Hey guys.Good news.I fitted the rockers with new seals and there was
little to no valve lash. Adjusted the valve lash to 0.25mm exhaust and
0.20mm intake. Its the middle of the range suggested in the manual.Now
the car starts and ideals fine and smooth.Will take it for a test run
today.Just one more question.There is a vacuum line running from the
air intake, it branches of to the vacuum advance on the distributer
and the carb(by the looks of things),but there is a third branch thats
blanked off.It seems like it should go to the distributer cap.Should I
get a new pipe and fit it to the cap or where does it go?My manual is
for fuel injected cars and only refers to the P2 and P8 connections.
Regards JP

On 08/20/2011 01:00 AM, Juan-Pierre Herboth wrote:
> Hey guys.Good news.I fitted the rockers with new seals and there was
> little to no valve lash. Adjusted the valve lash to 0.25mm exhaust and
> 0.20mm intake. Its the middle of the range suggested in the manual.Now
> the car starts and ideals fine and smooth.Will take it for a test run
> today.

good.


> Just one more question.There is a vacuum line running from the
> air intake, it branches of to the vacuum advance on the distributer
> and the carb(by the looks of things),but there is a third branch thats
> blanked off.It seems like it should go to the distributer cap.Should I
> get a new pipe and fit it to the cap or where does it go?My manual is
> for fuel injected cars and only refers to the P2 and P8 connections.
> Regards JP

if it came capped, and the cap looks as old as the rest of the system,
it's probably just a test point. i can't help with anything else in the
carbureted vehicle department - i stopped following that dead-end years ago.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

lol.Thanx Jim.Yeah I know Cabs are outdated,but I still feel that
simple is best.Especially when it comes to old cars.I believe a carb
is easier to fix and maintain for someone unskilled like me.The hose
has a screw in it so I dont think its part of the original design.Ill
see if I can find the info elsewere.Thanx again for all your help.It
was invaluable.

On 08/20/2011 01:29 PM, Juan-Pierre Herboth wrote:
> lol.Thanx Jim.Yeah I know Cabs are outdated,but I still feel that
> simple is best.Especially when it comes to old cars.I believe a carb
> is easier to fix and maintain for someone unskilled like me.The hose
> has a screw in it so I dont think its part of the original design.Ill
> see if I can find the info elsewere.Thanx again for all your help.It
> was invaluable.


you're welcome. enjoy the honda - that generation are great cars.

don't be afraid of electronic fuel injected vehicles. the reality is,
they're typically more reliable and easier to fix than carburetted
vehicles. the only thing holding most people back is the need to
acquire /new/ knowledge, and the misconception that "i know nothing
about computers or electronics, so i won't know how to fix it". reality
couldn't be much more different. everything is a unit. the computer
does most diagnostics for you. all you have to do is swap the
designated unit if it's defective. the auto repair industry has been
revolutionized and massively simplified as a result. of course, if you
want to get into the nitty gritty and repair those units and their
individual components, you'll need a little more info, but sites like
tegger's excellent tegger.com contain a wealth of accumulated honda
knowledge that'll keep most cars on the road.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

Thus spake Juan-Pierre Herboth > :

>hi there.I have a 95 honda civic with a D15B3 engine(1.5l 16v).The
>timing belt resently broke and Im trying to see if any valves bend
>without removing the head. Ive removed the rocker arms and the sparks
>plugs.My question is whether or not Ill be able to determine anything
>if I do a compression test the way the engine is now?If so what
>pressure whould show all is good?I cant do a leak down test(dont have
>the equipment) and cant tow the car to a shop to have them do it.The
>seller told be the engine was overhualed a month ago and before the
>belt braking the engine ran very well,so Im not afraid of worn rings
>and stuff like that.

Checking compression is, in itself, fairly useless. A leak down test
would be useful, but might also suggest you need a ring job.

Invest in a real shop manual, a high quality torque wrench, new head
gaskets, new valve cover gaskets (which I hope you already have) and
some "anti-freeze". There are also some neat little endoscopic type
tools you can get to look thorugh the plug hole, but you really have
to know what you're doing for them to be useful.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

"You idiots, it's rape, pillage,THEN BURN!!!"
--- chief of the Aggie Vikings