1.2 16v no compression on cylinder 1

its not head gasket, valves seem good, didnt try gasoline test yet, piston isnt cracked, can it be anything else than piston rings? bent head? car didnt overheat tho, oil dipstick flew out spraying engine oil everywhere, when i took oil fill cap off oil was spraying out when engine was on

pic below is cylinder 1 which had no compression

If cylinder 1 had no compression then how could it pump anything into the sump or oil ways to cause the oil to be blown out like that? Did it really have absolutely no compression??

Are the orange rusty water marks all over the head gasket normal for a dismantled engine?

Do you know how long this car had the fault before you got it?

Have you had a look at the valve lifters and confirmed that side of things is working properly?

judderbar said:

If cylinder 1 had no compression then how could it pump anything into the sump or oil ways to cause the oil to be blown out like that? Did it really have absolutely no compression??

Are the orange rusty water marks all over the head gasket normal for a dismantled engine?

Do you know how long this car had the fault before you got it?

Have you had a look at the valve lifters and confirmed that side of things is working properly?

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cylinder 1 had no compression, 3 had normal compression, didnt measure others
car supposedly just got that fault when i bought it, wasnt driven anymore, owner said oil light came on and whole engine was covered in oil, there was enough oil inside tho, i just drove it like 500 m and it feelt like it was running on 3 cylinders had no power
dunno if that orange stuff on hg is normal, how do i check valve lifters? pour petrol and see if it goes through?

did petrol test on cylinder 1 valves and couldnt see any escaping other side
also cylinder 1 wall doesnt seem different color than other ones, also isnt scratched different than others
wonder what it might be

flisko said:

cylinder 1 had no compression, 3 had normal compression, didnt measure others

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what figures..??

did you try dry - then wet..,
that would normally eliminate ( isolate) ring wear

eh i forgot to do wet test..., i only did dry test, and cylinder 1 showed 0 on the scale, cant remember exactly how much third had but it was in the normal

How about just putting the new gasket on and with each piston at the bottom of the stroke put the compression tester on and see what you get with the extension off. You could also do the oil test the same way.

on my 16V it is very hard to turn the car over by hand - you can do it of course - but you certainly feel it as you compress it.

Could the PO have overfilled it. Seen one drain the gearbox and then add a gallon of GTX to the sump ? Sharp enough he spotted it coming out the dipstick but was amazed that all the oil had vanished when he opened the gearbox to let a bit of it out.
Could try filing 1 and 3 with something and seeing if there is a big difference in leak off.
Could a valve be sticking ?

judderbar said:

How about just putting the new gasket on and with each piston at the bottom of the stroke put the compression tester on and see what you get with the extension off. You could also do the oil test the same way.

on my 16V it is very hard to turn the car over by hand - you can do it of course - but you certainly feel it as you compress it.

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put new gasket on, put everything together and measure compression while turning bottom engine by hand? wont i destroy another head gasket? or do you mean just put everything together without bolts?

Brendan W said:

Could the PO have overfilled it. Seen one drain the gearbox and then add a gallon of GTX to the sump ? Sharp enough he spotted it coming out the dipstick but was amazed that all the oil had vanished when he opened the gearbox to let a bit of it out.
Could try filing 1 and 3 with something and seeing if there is a big difference in leak off.
Could a valve be sticking ?

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how can i check for sticking valve?
now that i think back, everytime i checked oil level it was way above max, mhhmmm, could it be that simple as overfilling oil? but that wouldnt explain no compression at cylinder 1 would it?

forgot to mention that engine light is on too

flisko said:

how can i check for sticking valve?
now that i think back, everytime i checked oil level it was way above max, mhhmmm, could it be that simple as overfilling oil? but that wouldnt explain no compression at cylinder 1 would it?

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Turning it over by hand sometimes you can see one of the valves behaving different near the top of the up stroke in particular. It can be the springs or lifters binding or a foreign object and taking the valve out and cleaning everything up can sort it.
Still thinking about the overfill possibility.

would overfill cause oil to spray out the filler cap+flying dipstick and 0 compression?

Overfilling can blow out crank seals. Sending some out the filler would be no trouble.
Can't see a direct link to no compression. Could the lifter be stuck ?

lifter?
would crack piston ring make some visible scratches that are more obvious than normal wear?

"cylinder 1 had no compression, 3 had normal compression" What reading did you get in No 3?, you should have got some reading in no 1 judging by the photos, it would be unusual to get a zero reading when piston crown looks OK unless a valve is stuck, then again if a valve as stuck on these engines there should be marks on the crown!

flisko said:

put new gasket on, put everything together and measure compression while turning bottom engine by hand? wont i destroy another head gasket? or do you mean just put everything together without bolts?


forgot to mention that engine light is on too

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refit old gasket, and torque with old bolts,
then crank on starter..getting DRY figures..,
then do again with WET figures

you'll be a bit the wiser..AND have spent no money..

engine light..,
you mean EML for emissions..??

i destroyed one head bolt as it was stuck, can i put all together without one bolt?

flisko said:

lifter?

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Cam follower. If it was overfilled all hell would have broken loose and sludge from the sump could have found it's way to the top.

two weeks before buying car, seller told me that oil light came on and he poured in 2l of fresh oil, considering that engine holds 2.8l oil

current oil level marked with yellow


pic of cylinder 1 valves not that you can see anything there...




i wonder did it show 0 compression cuz of to much oil inside
im eager to drain oil, put correct ammount inside and put everything back together

I suppose piston one is actually going up and down when you crank it over?

i was turning engine by hand and all pistons move lol