No, it wasnt a traditional one. From what Ive gathered, they test the power going to the starter motor to turn the engine over, decided it was doing it too easilly and so must have low comoression
You can do that with an oscilloscope and some faffing around but, irregardless you need to do a compression test yourself to get a matter of fact reading, no point guessing.

Another possibility is is has skipped a few teeth and bent a few valves not uncommon as the wear/slack in a RV8 chain can get excessive especially if it has led a hard life... :)
 
Okay, well if nobody buys it before the listing expires, then Ill buy a compression tester.
If the worst is confirmed, how much will it cost me to do a DIY rebuild (including a GOOD guide/instruction manual, if there isnt a free online one)
I can use either engine, but the auto has about 160k miles on it anyway, so would certainly benefit from similar treatment
 
OK... I'm 3 rums in, hopefully I don't sound like too much of a cock, BUT...

Just start at the beginning of this thread and actually check the bare basics as suggested. So far, there's been a whole of of time wasting and money spent with incompetent "mechanics" and the bare minimum checks haven't been done!

These V8's are NOT complicated and the garages who looked at it are clearly morons. Forget EVERYTHING they have said, forget everything you think might have happened and everything that could have happened and start with the basics again.

Apply logic, record the results and THEN determine possible causes. This whole thread and process has been so all over the place, with zero logic and process.

1: Compression, is there any?
2: Spark, is there any? Is it at the right time?
3: Fuel, is it beng injected, does ezi-start make it fire, pop, fart or explode?

It needs air and fuel into the cylinder, it needs to compress it and ignite it.

Which part isn't working? It was probably only one of them at the start, since it just didn't start one day... but by now, there could be multple faults, introduced by dicking with things without doing the basic tests. Those garages sound like the exact places that should be avoided at all costs.

Also, If you want to own a 14CUX injected V8 for any period of time, GET ROVERGAUGE - you can build or buy the cable, and the software is freeeeeeeeeee! I can run it on my phone (RS-RV8) or laptop. You can see what the ECU sees, instead of guessing. But's it's still only useful after the basics are determined to be functional!
 
No, it wasnt a traditional one. From what Ive gathered, they test the power going to the starter motor to turn the engine over, decided it was doing it too easilly and so must have low comoression
What flipping joke. Too lazy to take out 8 spark plugs, wind the compression tester into each one, test it and write the figures down.


Pfffffffft!
 
Okay, well if nobody buys it before the listing expires, then Ill buy a compression tester.
If the worst is confirmed, how much will it cost me to do a DIY rebuild (including a GOOD guide/instruction manual, if there isnt a free online one)
I can use either engine, but the auto has about 160k miles on it anyway, so would certainly benefit from similar treatment
Hey up, Mush.
Ere you go!!!

 
Thanks guys, I think starting again might be a good idea. Its got 2 weeks left on the advert, so failing its sale, Ill crack on with the checks.
Spark - easy enough to check that its happening, quite hard to tell if its happening at the right time (i.e. not 180° out)
Compression test - will report back. How will I know if they are ALL low? Whats a healthy result?
Fuel - I highly doubt the fuel issue will have fixed its self, but we shall see.
Air - impossible for anything here to be broken, unless one of the garages REALLY cocked it up.
 
Thanks guys, I think starting again might be a good idea. Its got 2 weeks left on the advert, so failing its sale, Ill crack on with the checks.
Spark - easy enough to check that its happening, quite hard to tell if its happening at the right time (i.e. not 180° out)
Compression test - will report back. How will I know if they are ALL low? Whats a healthy result?
Fuel - I highly doubt the fuel issue will have fixed its self, but we shall see.
Air - impossible for anything here to be broken, unless one of the garages REALLY cocked it up.

:rolleyes:
 
Sorry I can't really provide an answer but if a liberal dose of EZ start, nasty stuff, has been sprayed down the bores then it possible any gunge has been washed into the cylinder.
This can give two problems, said gunge removed from around piston rings can lead to lack of compression. And of course if not being burnt off, it has to go somewhere ?
 
Well, when it first broke (last year) it was coughing, no spark (turned out to be distributor, according to the first garage) I could smell the petrol coming out of the exhaust.

Ive no idea what the first garage did to break presumably the ECU. They also wouldnt give me the old distributor back.
 
What flipping joke. Too lazy to take out 8 spark plugs, wind the compression tester into each one, test it and write the figures down.


Pfffffffft!

No I would say its a quick acceptable way to do an initial compression test these days. Can be done in 10mins.

I have 20+yr old equipment that will do it, its garage quality equipment (although old).

The problem is what you do with the results ;).

J
 
No I would say its a quick acceptable way to do an initial compression test these days. Can be done in 10mins.

I have 20+yr old equipment that will do it, its garage quality equipment (although old).

The problem is what you do with the results ;).

J
Maybe "these days" it's acceptable. I'm too old skool to not do it properly, the old squirt of oil in the bores to see if any drop off is due to valves or pistons/cylinders. Etc.

But then I'm a bit bonkers, use it to balance compressions by playing around with tappet settings. Sooooo nice when it ticks over ultra smoothly.
 
Maybe "these days" it's acceptable. I'm too old skool to not do it properly, the old squirt of oil in the bores to see if any drop off is due to valves or pistons/cylinders. Etc.

But then I'm a bit bonkers, use it to balance compressions by playing around with tappet settings. Sooooo nice when it ticks over ultra smoothly.

I will say it again.

The problem is what you do with the results.

I didn’t say I don’t have compression testing kit ;) .

J
 
I will say it again.

The problem is what you do with the results.

I didn’t say I don’t have compression testing kit ;) .

J
(I got all this the first time. I'm not blind! ;))

Don't want to confuse the OP with too much advice before he's even got the kit and had a play! Most kit comes with basic instructions and advice as to what the results mean, in a simple way.
 
If you could smell fuel in the exhaust then it is being injected, if you have spark then it should have atleast coughed, especially with easy start even if it had low compression on a few cylinders.

I'd be leaning towards timing.

A quick and dirty check is to set the No1 cylinder at TDC compression and see if the rotor arm is pointing to the No1 plug segment in the dizzy cap.

1694017982479.png
 
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(I got all this the first time. I'm not blind! ;))

Don't want to confuse the OP with too much advice before he's even got the kit and had a play! Most kit comes with basic instructions and advice as to what the results mean, in a simple way.
Confuse the OP:vb-rofl:

He has had all this advice before.
But was asking in another Fred about putting a 200tdi in an ex v8 RRC.

He needs to knuckle down and sort out what he has so he knows the way forward.
There has been loads of good advice to sort this but then it jumps to something else.

J
 

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