How long should I turn it over? And I didn't have the throttle wide open. But at first you guys where saying to pay attention to the differences cylinder to cylinder.

 

Also if it makes any difference my engine is a series 3.

 

I agree with you need to do a coolant pressure test and make sure it holds over a long period of time.

 

You guys have to realize there are a lot of factors that make up the compression test numbers. The test itself is not very repeatable from car to car. The biggest factor is the starter. Not taking out all the plug before testing the first cylinder can have a huge differents but so can a weak battery or a failing starter. Any test over 100 PSI shows the basics that a motor has enough compression to atomize fuel and the fact all the cylinders compression test are near to each other, since all conditions are about the same within the same engine. Trying to compare from car to car is a waste of time. All your are really doing is compairing who has the fastest starter.

A leak down tester can be done on the lowest compession cylinder. If that shows the leakage as blow by then your motor has normal wear.

IMO Besides a 4 gas analyzer the best way to check for a blown headgasket is to get the coolant pressure tester up to about 12 PSI. Then start the car. When the car starts the needle will jump a small amout indicating the coolant flow just kicked on but it should go right back to 12 PSI. With a slight blown headgaskets you will see the pressure start to rise. 13 then 14 in the first minute. On a real bad gasket you will even see the needle shake from the internal leak. (you really need to fix all external leaks before doing this test)

On a car without a blown head gasket the pressure will rise slowly and evenly over a long time. I would suggest testing a car you know is in good working order before you test your car so you can see first hand what the test should look like.

 

they are within about 10% so i would fix the known leak and do the coolant system pressure test. if it checks out and looks good i would then put er back together and drive it.

 

I did a pressure test on the cooling system after new elbows. it held a 13 psi for 10 minutes. So now Im going to put it back together and see what happens.

 

It runs! at least idles, I had it running for about 10 minutes and let it get to temp. No signs of coolant getting into the cylinders now, just moisture coming out of the exhaust. Im going to test drive it to see if its really fixed.

 

thats great, glad to hear it.

 

Maybe its not ok. It still cuts out at a magic load. But there is no smoke coming out of the exhaust, but I only have water in the cooling system right now. what could it be? coil pack? tps? the SES light is not on.