Cylinder number four has no pressure

Tiny
THOMAS DAVIES
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 VAUXHALL MERIVA
  • 1.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 84,000 MILES
My car suddenly lost a load of power and I checked the warning codes using the old accelerator and brake switch on trick and it confirmed a problem with the cylinder. Got the RAC to take a look and it had 0 pressure in its fourth cylinder and oil had leaked into it. Not loads, I did not have to top up oil. Just before the cylinder went the emissions warning signal came on colored amber. I have just bought the car (five days ago) for £450 and am told that this is not worth fixing or even attempting. I am wondering if there is a likely problem or anyone could recommend what to do from here?

Thanks very much in advance! :)
Monday, September 18th, 2017 AT 12:22 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,737 POSTS
I would start with a cylinder leakage test. A compression test tells you there is 0 psi in that cylinder. A cylinder leakage test will tell you why.

You put that piston at top dead center on the compression stroke, (there is a whistle that can help you find it faster), then the test involves pumping compressed air, through the tester, into the cylinder. The tester will show the percent leakage, and you can check in four places to identify the cause of the leakage.

Hiss at the tail pipe: leaking exhaust valve.
Hiss at the throttle body: leaking intake valve.
Hiss at the "oil" cap or dip stick tube: leaking piston rings or hole in the piston.
Steady stream of tiny air bubbles in the radiator: leaking cylinder head gasket or cracked head.
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Monday, September 18th, 2017 AT 5:48 PM
Tiny
THOMAS DAVIES
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Thank you very much for your reply! That sounds like too much special gear for me to do! I guess it will end up in the knackers yard.
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Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 AT 2:02 AM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,737 POSTS
It is somewhat involved, but you may find the tester at an auto parts store that rents or borrows tools. The most time-consuming part is finding top-dead-center. There is a whistle for that which is screwed onto the tester's hose. When the valves close, the whistle whistles as the piston is coming up on the compression stroke when turning the crank by hand. It stops whistling when you're passing top-dead-center. Then it's just a matter of looking at the timing mark on the vibration damper. You might be able to do the test if you're just close to top-dead-center, but if it's off too far, the compressed air will push the piston down and open a valve.

Once you're at top-dead-center, it just takes a few seconds to remove the whistle and connect the tester. As I recall, the tester regulates the compressed air to around 30 psi. One complete crankshaft revolution will put a second piston at top-dead-center of its compression stroke, so that one is easy to find, then a half a revolution does the same for a third cylinder.

In your case you're only concerned with cylinder number four. Other than finding TDC, the test doesn't take much longer than doing the compression test.
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Wednesday, September 20th, 2017 AT 12:29 AM

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