Compression Test

dceire

I'm looking to get a compression test done on my car because I think my mechanic may have made a bit of a mess of my head gasket replacement.

Not all garages seem to do them. Can anyone recommend somewhere that does them in Kildare or South Dublin area and how much is it likely to cost me?

George Dalton

What symptoms are you having? It may be that you need a leakdown test rather than a compression test. A leakdown test will give you much more information.

Nissan doctor

dceire wrote: »

I'm looking to get a compression test done on my car because I think my mechanic may have made a bit of a mess of my head gasket replacement.

Not all garages seem to do them. Can anyone recommend somewhere that does them in Kildare or South Dublin area and how much is it likely to cost me?

As George said, a leakdown test will give much better information. Combined with a sniff test and a cooling system pressure test should tell you what's going on. IMO you should be looking at around the €50 mark to have it diagnosed properly.

For a head gasket issue to show any major readings on a basic compression test the engine would have to be running extremely badly.


As an aside....How the hell can there be garages that don't something as basic as a compression tester??:eek:

dceire

Nissan doctor wrote: »

As George said, a leakdown test will give much better information. Combined with a sniff test and a cooling system pressure test should tell you what's going on. IMO you should be looking at around the €50 mark to have it diagnosed properly.

For a head gasket issue to show any major readings on a basic compression test the engine would have to be running extremely badly.


As an aside....How the hell can there be garages that don't something as basic as a compression tester??:eek:

I've had it to two garages that said they don't do them. One of them is a very small operation, they've been very good to me in the past and always looked after me but seem a bit baffled this time round.

George, the symptoms are primarily the loss of coolant and it is difficult to start from cold. When it eventually does start it occasionally puffs some white smoke and has a strong petrol smell. The coolant level seems to rise, sometimes quite significantly, when I'm trying to start from cold. The car is a 2002 Renault Clio.

The head gasket, coil pack, and timing belt were changed by the garage mentioned above which seemed to solve the problem for about a week before they returned. It also needs a lambda sensor and, I think the, engine immissions light is on because of this.

Nissan doctor

dceire wrote: »

I've had it to two garages that said they don't do them. One of them is a very small operation, they've been very good to me in the past and always looked after me but seem a bit baffled this time round.

George, the symptoms are primarily the loss of coolant and it is difficult to start from cold. When it eventually does start it occasionally puffs some white smoke and has a strong petrol smell. The coolant level seems to rise, sometimes quite significantly, when I'm trying to start from cold. The car is a 2002 Renault Clio.

The head gasket, coil pack, and timing belt were changed by the garage mentioned above which seemed to solve the problem for about a week before they returned. It also needs a lambda sensor and, I think the, engine immissions light is on because of this.

The lambda may be damaged now if the car has poor compression which will cause poor combustion.

Did they skim and pressure test the head? And did they diagnose the cause of the head gasket failure in the first place?

dceire

Nissan doctor wrote: »

The lambda may be damaged now if the car has poor compression which will cause poor combustion.

Did they skim and pressure test the head? And did they diagnose the cause of the head gasket failure in the first place?

I'm going to say no and no. I had the head gasket on my old Astra done there before and it never let me down for years up until I sold it; they skimmed the head that time. Said that there was two cracks in the old gasket and a new one should sort it; it did for about 1/2 weeks. Now it's back to square one it seems.

Nissan doctor

dceire wrote: »

I'm going to say no and no. I had the head gasket on my old Astra done there before and it never let me down for years up until I sold it; they skimmed the head that time. Said that there was two cracks in the old gasket and a new one should sort it; it did for about 1/2 weeks. Now it's back to square one it seems.

If it overheated enough to cause the HG to fail like that then the head will almost certainly be warped. Just replacing the gasket can't fix the problem if this is the case.

dceire

Nissan doctor wrote: »

If it overheated enough to cause the HG to fail like that then the head will almost certainly be warped. Just replacing the gasket can't fix the problem if this is the case.

He said at the time that the head gasket wasn't badly damaged when he replaced it and the car has never overheated on me. Is it possible that it wasn't the problem in the first place? Although, it did work fine for about a week after it was replaced before returning to square one.

Just got off the phone to the mechanic there. He said the head was skimmed as well as a new gasket being fitted.

dceire

I left the car in with another garage and have been told that it needs a new engine. Apparently it is cracked and letting coolant into the engine block.

I'm at a loss as to what I am to do with it now. The car isn't worth much more than €1000 and I've already spent €500 on it. How much is an engine likely to set me back? Any suggestions as to what I might do would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.