Compression test result. Engine needs rebuilding.

[Adam0419]

Here is my test result. The engine needs rebuilding. I want to do it myself. Is it possible for me? And will the repair manual for Aspire 98' (WA WB WD) work on my 2000' WF?

Cylinder 1 2 3 4
Dry pressure 170 110 170 155
wet pressure 190 155 190 185

[Festy46]

Being from the US, I can't answer for sure if your '98 manual will work for the 2000 model. You could try doing some research on the 2 model years and see if you can find any changes that were made to the motor between '98 and 2000.

As far as rebuilding the motor yourself, if you don't have at least a basic knowledge of engine parts, you could be setting yourself up for a very expensive education. Most repair manuals assume you know what you are doing and they sometimes skip right over minor things that could make a serious problem for you. You might want to consider looking for a low mileage used engine and installing that yourself. If you can find a good one it would be a lot cheaper to do and you could get some experience working on cars, if that's your goal. To jump right in to a complete overhaul with very little experience is not a good idea.

.

[JohnGunn]

The engine needs rebuilding. I want to do it myself. Is it possible for me?

In the end this is a question only you can answer.

The fact that you are asking such a general question, suggests to me that you should only take this on if you will be totally free of any pressure to get the job done in a certain amount of time, i.e. you will have unlimited use of another means of transportation to get to work, go shopping, make runs for parts and tools, etc. until the job is done.

Next, you should spend as much time as it takes for you get a clear vision of each of the steps you will have to take to complete the job. Buy every manual you can find and read the relevant sections several times over and spend many hours on this site, and the Internet in general, reading what others have to say about the things you will have to do.

Make a detailed list of each step that you will take, listing the exact tools and supplies that will be needed. Your biggest hurdle in this will be trying to visualize parts that you have never seen. That's where pictures are extremely important. Collect all the pictures you can find, even ones that at first may not make sense to you. And organize them according to the step, or steps, they describe. Best help of all would be to find an example of your car in a junk yard and spend some time doing as many steps in your procedure as you can on it. For example you could go as far as removing the engine, though taking that apart in a junk yard environment might be too destructive I would think.

When you have written up your detailed procedure you will be in position to go through each of the steps in you mind asking yourself if you think you will be able to do them or will have to let a machine shop do the work. Also you will be able to figure out what tools you will have to buy or rent and get some idea of how much money those will cost.

It has been my experience that any job, on cars or anything else, will never be as difficult as it is the first time you do it. There is the fear of diving into water without knowing exactly what lies beneath the surface. You can look at pictures and read words, but nothing will give the confidence of actually doing a thing. That is not to say you shouldn't try to do something you have never done before, but, rather than dive into the water, your research should allow you to slowly wade out into the water probing with feet, hands, and eyes as you go.

Probably the best thing for you to do would be to find someone you trust who has done the work before and hire him to do the work while you help by doing whatever he thinks you can do. At the very least you could be responsible for cleaning every thing that goes back into the car. In the same vane, before any work on your car is begun, whether by yourself or anyone else, you should have spent as much time as necessary to get the engine and associated parts as clean as you possibly can. This cleaning is the single most important thing you can do to make the experience pleasant and fulfilling.

If after reading this it all sounds like a lot of work that you would rather not do, this may be too large a step for you. Then you should go out to your car, open the hood and ask yourself, "What is the dirtiest thing I see?" and set about cleaning it. If you do that often enough you will begin to take pride in what you see when you raise the hood and the idea of working at a deeper level will become almost irresistible.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[mechanicaldj]

sure it isn't a bad valve seat or carbon build up on one of the valves????????

[perucho]

^ +1. Do a leak down test. A compression test tells you that there are leaks but doesn't tell you where it's leaking from.

[Mike McKown]

Here is my test result. The engine needs rebuilding.
Cylinder 1 2 3 4
Dry pressure 170 110 170 155
wet pressure 190 155 190 185

How did you come to the conclusion the engine NEEDED to be rebuilt?

[Adam0419]

In the end this is a question only you can answer.

The fact that you are asking such a general question, suggests to me that you should only take this on if you will be totally free of any pressure to get the job done in a certain amount of time, i.e. you will have unlimited use of another means of transportation to get to work, go shopping, make runs for parts and tools, etc. until the job is done.

Next, you should spend as much time as it takes for you get a clear vision of each of the steps you will have to take to complete the job. Buy every manual you can find and read the relevant sections several times over and spend many hours on this site, and the Internet in general, reading what others have to say about the things you will have to do.

Make a detailed list of each step that you will take, listing the exact tools and supplies that will be needed. Your biggest hurdle in this will be trying to visualize parts that you have never seen. That's where pictures are extremely important. Collect all the pictures you can find, even ones that at first may not make sense to you. And organize them according to the step, or steps, they describe. Best help of all would be to find an example of your car in a junk yard and spend some time doing as many steps in your procedure as you can on it. For example you could go as far as removing the engine, though taking that apart in a junk yard environment might be too destructive I would think.

When you have written up your detailed procedure you will be in position to go through each of the steps in you mind asking yourself if you think you will be able to do them or will have to let a machine shop do the work. Also you will be able to figure out what tools you will have to buy or rent and get some idea of how much money those will cost.

It has been my experience that any job, on cars or anything else, will never be as difficult as it is the first time you do it. There is the fear of diving into water without knowing exactly what lies beneath the surface. You can look at pictures and read words, but nothing will give the confidence of actually doing a thing. That is not to say you shouldn't try to do something you have never done before, but, rather than dive into the water, your research should allow you to slowly wade out into the water probing with feet, hands, and eyes as you go.

Probably the best thing for you to do would be to find someone you trust who has done the work before and hire him to do the work while you help by doing whatever he thinks you can do. At the very least you could be responsible for cleaning every thing that goes back into the car. In the same vane, before any work on your car is begun, whether by yourself or anyone else, you should have spent as much time as necessary to get the engine and associated parts as clean as you possibly can. This cleaning is the single most important thing you can do to make the experience pleasant and fulfilling.

If after reading this it all sounds like a lot of work that you would rather not do, this may be too large a step for you. Then you should go out to your car, open the hood and ask yourself, "What is the dirtiest thing I see?" and set about cleaning it. If you do that often enough you will begin to take pride in what you see when you raise the hood and the idea of working at a deeper level will become almost irresistible.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

Thank you for your so detailed response. It seems so difficult for me but to be honest, I have the experience of diving into the water without knowing what's underneath. And what I felt was the water surface kiss my belly so hard and turned it a bit painful and flush.

[Adam0419]

How did you come to the conclusion the engine NEEDED to be rebuilt?

It just jumped into my mind.