Compression Issues?

[bruno8747]

I bought a 92 EX today. And the previous owner said that the engine was is messed up. He said that a mechanic told him that it had compression problem. Now I am looking at the engine and there is alot of dirt all over and it looks like oil is around the head where the gasket is. Now the car starts up and runs decent but it sometimes cuts off when you put some pressure on the engine.

What would I have to do to get the engine to work properly again? Just buy a new head gasket kit? And if so how much do they run?

Oh BTW the car has 173K miles.

[h22sparkle]

first do a compression and leakdown test. There are many things that can cause a car to do this. Get us some pics of the engine if you have a digicam and then we can go from there.

[91AccordLX]

a head gasket kit will probably run you about $60.....the first thing i would do is take care of all the regular maintence stuff....get new plugs and plug wires, dizzy cap and rotor..change the oil and tranny fluid...

[bruno8747]

I am finding minor problems with the car everyday. Well today i see that the alternator dosent work. Its probably because of all the oil and other crap from the engine. Now also i see that the rpm gauge drops to zero when you give it some gas and then pops up back. And i cant find my digi cam right now. Do you guys want some description of whats goin on inside there?

[91AccordLX]

yes please give us some detailed descriptions here.....

[bruno8747]

Well to start off I am looking around the head and I see oil around it. Not that much I guess the engine is just dirty. Next I am gonna have to change the altenator, cause this one is not working.

Today I took out all the spark plugs. And replaced them with some used honda ngk ones. The engine sounds and fells a little better. Now when I changed the plug I see an oil on plug #3.

Also the tach dosent work too good. It drops to 0 rpm when I rev the engine. I am thinking thats the distrubitor is the problem. And I think this is probably the cause of all this. I checked the oil level and its too high its not between the two holes but above. So what do you guys think I could do to help fix this engine.

[headbussaboi]

I'm thinking that the RPM guage is dropping when you rev is due to a bad Vehicle Speed Sensor. You should of put in some new spark plugs, not used. I used the Denso's from Autozone and they work fine, but you will have to gap them yourself.

[Bluejayde]

VSS causes the Speedo to mess up, not the Tach. The Tach problem may be the distributor.

[bruno8747]

Ok I know its probably the distrubitor giving me the problems....But I have this noise when I rev the car also. It sounds like a knocking or a ratteling noise. It really sounds like you put some bolts in a can and shake the can. It only happends when I rev over 1500 rpm and when it begins to idle again its quiet. And about the used spark plugs I had them laying around they are temporary for now.