Recomedation for a compression gauge???

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C

Crusader

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I did a search and no brand names where listed however there was mention of doing a leakdown test. So will a regular compression gauge also do this? Any recommendations. I'd rather pay more for a product not made in China.

I will doing a headgasket change on my 1/4 million mile Civic and I wanted to do a compression and/or leakdown test to check for other possible issues since I'll have the head off.

What else should I check when I'm in there? I want to be able to kill 5 birds with one stone.
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Compression gauge and leakdown tester are two different beasties.
Compression gauge measures actual cranking compression, a leakdown tester uses external air pressure to measure leakage past rings, valves and headgasket.
A leakdown tester provides more info. You can tell where a leak is by simply listening, or watching the coolant in the radiator for bubbles.
I appreciate your search for non China tools. I don't know what to tell you about brands. My stuff was Snap-on, but it got used all the time. Accuracy is overrated as far as compression gauges go. All you really need to worry about is whether all of the cylinders read ~ the same. Any brand can do that. Get the type that screws into the sparkplug hole, not the one size fits all rubber stopper type.
 
Quote:

Compression gauge and leakdown tester are two different beasties.


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Yes punisher is right. A leak down tester requires shop air pressure for its operation. A compression tester just requires a good car battery for cranking over your engine for taking the reading.
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I will do some research tonight and find you one of each kind. I'll be back.
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Back when I went to Aircraft Mechanic school it was stressed to do a leak down test on aircraft engines. I will consider buying these off ebay. Thanks for the help.

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Using a leakdown tester will show you alot more regarding "issues". You can hear a his either in the crankcase (remove the oil fill cap), exhaust, or intake.

I use a 2 guage snapon leakdown tester. dial it up to 100% on one guage and the other will tell you percentages. It works extremely well but its not cheap. Your looking around 500bucks.

In your case I'd spend money at a garage and get a leakdown.

Realistically sometimes ignorance is bliss. If you do a valvejob on your head you may find you'll consume more oil with the original rings.

You can do a ghetto rebuild. Pull the head, drop the oil pan and pull the pistons out from the top. Get a 4 stone hone setup (like a sunnin $$$$ unit) but using a high torque hand drill. 4 stone hone (2 aluminum guide, 2 stones) makes the bore concentric unlike shiaty 3 stone hones. Ballhones are second on the list. Cover up the conrod jounals and change the conrod bearings. Mic the journal or strategically plastiguage to check oil clearance. It is very common to see main bearings perfect and well within spec on honda and toyotas with 200,000+ miles. This is very ghetto but I have done many builds like this on 90's honda civics with phenominal success. I warn you this is not professional in the sense of pulling out the engine out of car but people have limited $$ so they request ghetto rebuilds even though i dont advise.

As I said sometimes a fresh valve job may create more blowby due to retaining more compression on worn piston rings.
 
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Aircraft Mechanic school

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I went to one of those schools too back in 1990-1992 and got my A&P license, but only worked in the field for 5 months. They have a large airport here in Fresno, but not very many jobs for aircraft mechanics. Most of the guys I went to school with moved out of town to find work. I finally ended up being an industrial salesman.
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Merkava,

Thanks for all the Intel. Yes I worked as an A&P for a short spell in the late 80's. I've considered going back to it at some point but I've forgotten so much. Anyhow I'm my own boss now and I have very little stress and I set my own hours with a few exceptions.

Just want to get this head gasket job done and behind me, however I wanted to document the compression leak down before I pull it apart for reference. I take great comfort that I'm saving well over $1200 by doing it myself. I'm sure the last ASE tech who did the prior headgasket did not take the time to primp and prep the mating surfaces to perfection like I will attempt to do. Planning on driving this Civic well past 500,000 miles with out overhauling it.
 
Crusader,

You paid 1200 bucks for a headgasket job? wow I think i must charge more.

When you pull the head get it resurfaced to assure proper mating surface.

Use a victor-rienz (sp?) oldschool type graphite head gasket. The newer style ones do not work well IMO. The head gaskets usually go bad in the water jacket area around the bore of the block. The old type of headgasket compresses unlike the harder new composite (so called improved)which tend to blow headgaskets easily. The old graphite coated ones conducts heat much better.

While your at it buy a waterpump (NPW or any japanese made brand), t-belt and tensioner. Also cam seal and crank seal. Takes more time but then your done!! Mark your cam sprocket and put the engine to TDC. Paint pen the old belt and cam/crank sprocket and replicate thed mark on the new belt. YOU WILL NEVER mess up or skip a tooth with this simple method.

No real prep to do a headgasket. Just make sure the surface is clean and torque the head. Make sure you blow the head bolt holes with compressed air.
 
Alanu,

Honda put out a SB http://www.underhood.com/editorial/ar/eb040518.htm And they are calling for a specific gasket and headbolt. So considering this issue what are the best bolts and gasket to get. Toque sequence is also different from the Honda Manual. Also should one use a special gasket sealant or copper coat.

I will be checking for warping as well since I'm there. If it does need to be milled does the entire assembly need to be disassembled for milling? I'm also assuming milling will increase compression slightly. What do I look for in reputable shop? I tend to be very picky.

What about fuel injector issues related to the famous fuel dilution issue we hear about on Hondas - What should I look for?
 
I'm leary of using multi layered steel headgaskets. There seems to be more headgasket issues now then ever before. Another consideration is low quality aluminum warping heads.

Heres something I got for the internet

"On many late-model engines, graphite head gaskets are used because graphite has natural lubricity that can handle the differences in expansion between aluminum heads and cast iron blocks. Graphite is a relatively soft material that provides good conformability for cold sealing the engine, and it can withstand high temperatures and draw heat away from hot spots to reduce thermal stress and loading"

So if you have any imprefections on the two surfaces your gonna have issues with MLS headgaskets. Any warping will allow coolant or oil to go inbetween the layers of the headgasket. If I had to do a headgasket on a honda I'd use graphite.

If your picky I'd just mill the head without thinking twice. just remove enough so the machinist will not have any parts interfering with his work.

A friend of mine has been building engines for decades and he has seen more failures with MLS gaskets compared to graphite. Mind you some heads have warping issues so that just elevates the failure rate.

get a graphite headgasket and put a lighter flame on one end. You'll soon feel the heat dissipate quickly. The only benefit I see with MLS is they wont deteriorate in the water jacket areas but thats it.

I seldom ever see injector issues with any civic.
 
Merkava,
How satisfied are you with your Mytivac Professional tester? Were you able to compare it to other testers for accuracy. I am looking for something decent (not Chinese) but something not too expensive.

The design looks solid to me, especially the hoses.
 
A standard compression gauge is very useful for a quick test.
It will show a bad hole or bad cam timing.
A leak down test can pinpoint things if necessary, but is much more involved.
 
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