no compression on cylinder 4 - Ford Forums

quadrinary · 12-18-2005, 14:06

i have a '94 escort LX with a 1.9L engine. last night it outright died on me and when i started it up, i was getting this horrid clacking sound. it didn't sound like anything bouncing around in a cylinder, just a rhythmic clack that was in perfect time with the engine revolutions, accompanied by a very rough idle.

anyway, after about 3 miles driving like that (i was close to home), the clacking sound cleared up, but the rough running remained.

it seemed like a cylinder was misfiring, so i figured that in the process of troubleshooting, i'd replace the spark plugs. when i pulled out the cylinder 4 plug (the plug farthest from the timing belt) i noticed it was covered in oil - bad news. then checked to see if i was getting much, if any compression, out of the hole where the plug would normally be. i don't have a guage, but i stuck my thumb near the spark plug hole, and didn't feel a whole lot.

so i'm trying to figure out the most likely problem. hole in the piston? busted valve? broken piston rod?

i pulled off the valve cover to see if anything was obviously wrong -- all rockers are rocking freely and seem to be unobscured. nothing was bent. (is this an interference engine?)

anyway, just looking for some thoughts. i bought this car off of a buddy for $500 as a spare vehicle. if it's lost, it's lost and not too much skin off of my back, just a bit of a disappointment.

thanks!

-quad

93EGTinLR · 12-19-2005, 10:53

it sounds like you may have received the gift that alot of 1.9l Escort engines give their owners...a dropped valve seat...there will be no compression and no power from that cylinder...the noise you heard os most likely the pieces coming loose and etting chewed up on the piston...the reason it cleared up is that the pieces have become small enough topass through the system and have most likely embedded themselves in the cat...I have usually just replaced the engine after an episode like that as I have seen where heads have been repaired and they drop a seat again shortly therafter...also the piston can be pretty eaten up...if you check around you can find a good used engine fairly cheap...the last one I did, I found an engine that had about 20k miles on it and picked it up for about $400....and I replaced it in one weekend of actual work time...but that also depends on the tools and equipment you have on hand