head gasket a cause of zero compression?

[bass84]

as the title says, is a blown head gasket a possible cause of no compression on a z22se? its only cylinder 3, compression of 2 and 4 either side of it are fine.

would a wet compression test show compression if its only the head gasket and not piston ring?

ive had no blue smoke until the misfiring cylinder and then its only happened once on start up. no loss of coolant.

is there a way to tell before stripping the engine? some kind of test like the coolant pressure test, does that work? any diy ways to test?

 

[flatbeat]

Could do wet test see if it raises the compression
Burnt out or damaged valves can cause it is sounding like the head gasket as you don't always loose coolant

 

[bass84]

ive done the wet test....zero compression before and a little bit of compression after oil was put in. im just not sure if the wet test also shows a bad head gasket.

 

[evocarlos]

from what i understand headgasket failure is a rarity

 

[flatbeat]

Think the head needs to come off and have a look to see what's going on if not the head gasket then something with the valves

 

[bass84]

but a possibility. I have milky residue round my filler cap and surrounding area inside of the cover n as you probably know, that's a sign of bad gasket or at least water in the oil.

maybe I warped the head when tightening the bolts or something

 

[pottsey]

the milky residue (mayo) is a common thing ,do you do short trips etc .mine has been like it for the last 5 1/2 yrs once you give it a good long drive it soon clears

 

[bass84]

short trips through the week to work n back mostly but I do a 65 mile one way trip every Friday n then back sunday/Monday morning. I don't thrash my car, ive learnt my lesson from my earlier driving days, but I certainly don't dordle behind the slow ass drivers you get on single carriage ways so it gets a nice run every weekend

 

[vocky]

head gasket is not likely, I have only known a couple of head gasket failures (all caused by running with no coolant). It will most likely be bent valves caused by a slipped timing chain

 

[bass84]

head gasket is not likely, I have only known a couple of head gasket failures (all caused by running with no coolant). It will most likely be bent valves caused by a slipped timing chain

Im pretty sure it's not the chain, the chain is fine on examining it. Plus the other 3 cylinders are firing just fine, if the chain slipped wouldn't the whole timing be out?!

And also I get compression with the wet test. If valves were gone then that wouldn't happen.

 

[flatbeat]

If that's the case with the wet test Its damaged or stuck piston rings try spraying a bit of wd40 down the bore and leave it over night then try it as you can get a build up of carbon In the ring grooves that cause the rings to stick

 

[evocarlos]

If that's the case with the wet test Its damaged or stuck piston rings try spraying a bit of wd40 down the bore and leave it over night then try it as you can get a build up of carbon In the ring grooves that cause the rings to stick

carb cleaner

 

[bass84]

Just sprayed some wd40 down there. Bit tricky without the nozzle tho lol n it doesn't help that my car is on a slight incline.
If it doesn't work I'll get some sas spray from my work tomorrow which is good stuff n get the car level tomorrow night. I think the damage is at the front of the bore as the car facing up an incline didn't get compression with a wet test with the usual tea spoon of oil. I had to use 50ml ish which I guess was enough to get to the front (higher side) of the ring

 

[flatbeat]

Just make sure you spin it over a few times with the spark plugs out

 

[astra22bertoneauto]

bent or damaged valve(s), broken/missing rocker arm(s) if your not burning oil. Can also be damaged piston/bore which will cause you to burn oil unless you have none to burn.......

 

[bass84]

well struck her up this mornin. i turned her a few times to get rid of the oil i put in but i think i put too much in. i was struggling to see the houses across the road through the blue smoke lol woops.the car didnt seem too clever, it wouldnt go over 2000 revs but im guessing it just needs a good clean out. im gonna have to go for a run in it tonight to get that oil burnt off n clean the spark plug up before i can tell

 

[MikeS]

you done the chains recently so my guess is a bent valve

 

[bass84]

But if it was a valve wouldn't I still get zero compression with the wet test

 

[MikeS]

no

 

[bass84]

Slightly confused. So even with zero compression dry but some compression wet your sayin it could be a valve?

I thought the oil round the piston makin a bit of a seal n causing compression indicated a bad ring?