P38A Compression Test Results.

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MrGorsky

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Buckinghamshire.
Morning Everybody.

My misfire under load is still apparent, so I've bought new plugs and other bits to see if that helps. Whilst changing them I did a compression test and these are the results I got.... with my cheap eBay tester.

1=125 2=130
2=130 4=145
5=125 6=155
7=130 8=140

All figures in psi. Does that look about right for an engine with 158687 miles on the clock?

I thought I had a blowing exhaust from the front and have bought new cats, but having taken it all apart, my old original LR cats whilst rusty are pretty good. I don't think there's a hole there.

I don't want to put it all back together if there's serious trouble brewing elsewhere, so I thought I'd ask for advice on here first!
 
a small amount of oil down the bore just before you do a compression test will tell you whether its leaking piston rings or not. could also be valves
 
That compression is low for a Rover V8..

A tired RV8 should be atleast 150psi..

the difference between #5 and #6 is concerning a difference over 10% requires investigation..

Mine was between 190 and 210 psi...

drop some oil down the bores and do it again, thottle wide open..
 
I'll do a wet test now. I have no error codes. It runs fine at tickover, but driving along at say 60 or 70 you can feel it misfire and stutter. Only does it when warmed up.

I had a dodgy throttle position sensor that I thought was the problem, so I've changed that and also changed the CPS.

When you accelerate hard with the windows open you can hear a slight chuff sound rebounding of the walls you're driving past. I thought it was a blowing exhaust or possible leaking exhaust gasket, but I've taken it all apart and can't see any evidence of a leak. I thought I'd see soot or something like that.
 
Exhaust manifolds can chuff, so can loose plugs. I'm not sure what else that you've not checked.
I had backfires down the intake in hard acceleration, but that can't be confused with chuffing
 
Compression down on 1 and 5, ticking / chuffing but only when hot. Possibly coolant hose a rad hard? Could we be looking at a dropped liner here?
Not likely, if they drop one it pukes it's guts out after every run, and you hear the "clack clack" noise associated with it..

knowing that the compression shot up when oil was added to the bores means rings/bores are worn..
 
There's a worrying disparity between the readings.
Do you know the cars service history as 158K is not really excessive mileage for a RV8.
 
I bought it 9 years ago with 67k on the clock. Quite a bit of service history came with it. I think it was laid up for a few years before I bought it because there's a hole in the service record.

I'm the 3rd owner from new, and I've serviced it by the book since then. Head gasket went at about 100k. That was Feb 2016. The bores looked great back then. You could still see the crosshatching from the honing.

It was laid up for a year in 2018 because I was out of the country.

Apart from the usual niggles it's been great really. I recently lost kickdown and it started misfiring and running rough when warm and at speed. Once it failed to start whilst hot. Kickdown was the TPS. That's been changed and kickdown is restored. Rough running is still there, and this funny chuff like a blown exhaust. Only does it when warmed up though.

It starts and idles very well.

If the engine is on it's way out, I think I'd like to try and replace it/repair it rather than throw in the towel.
 
Whats the blow by situation like?

If compression shoots up when oil is added, it is either bores or rings..
 
Number 1 had a wet sooty plug when I ffirst took them out to have a look some days ago.

This afternoon whilst putting it back together a bit and changing the plugs, I noticed the connector in
Number 1 HT lead was pushed well back inside the boot although the plug was no longer sooty.

I've corrected that now. Hopefully that was causing the misfire.!!
 
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