I'll try to do a leakdown test TOMORROW. Thanks for the advice everyone

Just finished the compression test.

#1 420 psi
#2 435 psi
#3 400 psi
#4 380 psi
#5 445 psi
#6 380 psi

Looks promising but i'm not out of the woods yet.

Forgot to mention where I went wrong, i'm a professional dingus, i put the fan clutch on the wrong side, not only that the bolts where in the wrong side too.

When will I learn.

I also need to replace a return line too.

Excellent compression results. Why do you need a leak down again?

I'm wondering the same thing, I dread doing the leak down test.

Forgot to add, the radiator comes in Friday, so once I get that I'll fill it up, and check for the tell tale signs of a blown head gasket.

No all I have to do is WALK :mad: to the auto parts store and buy some, sadly both of my bicycles are in disrepair (both actually have a broken rear dérailleur) so I can't ride those.

Cheapest good solution I might attempt. Find a 3.5 car with the typical bent rod issue. Well developed. The car should almost be worthless in that condition. Transplant the #22 head. Sometimes connections help in a situation like yours. Some people are better at locating things than us sometimes. Also depends a lot on where you live as well. .

At todays cost a lot of people will not pay to repair that problem. Those cars should be out there. Who knows what else you may get that is either sellable or useable with the whole car. Or if the car is cheap but better than your example. Transfer your short block into it. Either way you have a good engine.

Personally If something I loan breaks while I have it. I feel obligated to fix it or replace it. This makes me reluctant to borrow other peoples cars especially. This does not apply to rental cars though.

In my rust belt area few of these cars really survived long enough to have large wear problems if used in the winter. So if you find older mechanical parts in general here. They usually will still be pretty good. I would rather have it otherwise than really good cars mechanically just rusted out. I want two front fenders for example and will have to source them in the south.

Personally I wouldn't request someone to lend me a 30 years car. I also not in my good conscience to loan someone a 30 years car. There is just too much risks involved. Too many things can go wrong with a 30+ years old car. I would just suck it up and repair it myself and life moves on.


Btw: The compression number looks excellent. I would do it again to confirm and don't squirt any oil in the cylinder prior.

Sorry, those are not excellent compression numbers. Excellent would be:
445
445
445
445
445

Excellent for a 30 year old car imho. Apparently my standards are not as high as yours.;)

Service manual specs:
=====================
Normal pressure: 26-32 bar 377-464 psi.
Minimum pressure: approx. 18 bar 261 psi
Permissible difference between cylinders: 3 bar 43 psi

This is from the service manual. If the numbers from the op is not excellent then what is?? Too picky or otherwise?

I'll bite.... a couple weeks ago you did a compression test with VERY DIFFERENT numbers. What happened between then and now?

Originally Posted by Father Of Giants View Post
Did a compression test.

#1 405
#2 [suspect cylinder] 300 , 320
#3 360
#4 435
#5 400
#6 [suspect cylinder] 370, 385

Believe it or not, that 300SDL was my daily driver, so far it's never let me down or shown any signs it would, other that what just happened.

I did have to take care of multiple ticking time bombs before I put the thing on the road when I first got it.

So what's like owning a 31 year old car?

Check oil everyday
Check transmission fluid every morning
Check coolant level periodically
Check suspension at every oil change (5k miles) or when the car goes in the air for whatever reason.
When driving, always listen for abnormal noises.
One eye on the road one eye on the temp gauge (too early?)
Fantasize about restoring the interior etc.

I've gotten use to it and don't mind, the car had a lot of problems but it's also given me a lot of experience so it's a trade off. I've become for more mechanically inclined ever since owning this thing. (still a long ways to go)

Back on topic, I would do the compression test again but my brother probably would not want to participate. He''ll say "**** THAT! We just did it yesterday!"

Since I work Friday, Saturday in judgment day...

Engine was stone cold this time, last time I just got off the highway.

Difference between his #4 & #6 to #5 are 65 psi, i.e. 2 cylinders exceeds the permissible difference between cylinders of 43 psi

Not my standards. Industry standards says there should not be more than 10% variance in compression between cylinders. Do some math.

It is possible for a 30 year old car to have excellent compression. My 83 300D turbo, when sold to a forum member (due to rust... for parts) with a little over 300,000 miles, had perfectly even compression across all 5 cylinders. I think it was 450 psi, can't remember the exact number but there was 0% variance from cyl to cyl. Last 50,000 of the 300,000 miles was on WVO. That was a great motor.

Those numbers, for me, are not worth taking the head off if there's no evidence that the head is blown or cracked. If it runs smooth and doesn't overheat, make smoke or steam I'd watch it for a while and count my lucky stars.