Reply
Sat 5 Jan, 2008 04:37 pm
K bare with me and I understand if this is frustrating explaining car stuff to someone that knows little about cars. Thanks anyways in advance for any advise.
Here's my reason for wanting to know more about these......
I've been dealing with a cylinder 1 misfire for a while. I found it by taking my car to auto zone to check out my check engine light. The guy that checked the engine code recommended spark plugs and sparkplug wires. So thats what I did. I had the sparkplugs and wires replaced.
Well that seemed to fix it for a bit. I drove home for xmas and about 1500 miles later... check engine light came on again.
So, still cylinder 1 misfire. I had it checked at Express Auto this time and they recommended sparkplugs and wires (again). I didn't btw. (So, $50 for the same advise I would have got for free at Auto zone).
So I took it to Firestone today and they did a test for the cylinder 1 misfire. Its losing pressure on the first cylinder. Its only getting 50lbs of pressure. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell me what could be causing that or how much that I'd be looking at for fixing it.
Any imput? What does this stuff mean?
Its so overwhelming, feeling like you're at the mercy of everyone because you just have to take their word on things. I understand some basics but with this I would love to understand a bit more. It would be great to have some advise from people that I know aren't trying to sell me something too. Thanks! Jessi
If what you are saying is that they ran a compression test...
and one cylinder has only 50 lbs then you have a problem.
What is your car....year, make, model
RH
Here is some info on doing a compression test
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0e/2d/cb/0900823d800e2dcb/repairInfoPages.htm
Read #12 for possible causes.
I am suprised they didn't do a little more checking after they got the low pressure reading.
Bad rings, a blown head gasket, and valve problems all require some major engine work.
its a 99 mustang with 125,000 miles.
That did help me understand a bit more. Another question and I'm sure this is hard to say without seeing my car. But I'm still away from home and need to get back. Its about 900 miles. After that - it doesn't need to be driven. I have another car I can drive and I mostly work at home.
The mechanic said that most likely what ever is wrong will be a very expensive repair. I can't afford anything too expensive at the moment. Should I be able to drive it home? Its almost all interstate driving.
You are in for a major repair bill, and a questionable return.
The car will not run much longer as it sits. You need to look at your options.
If you have a friend with a bit of mechanical knowledge, you can verify our suspicions for no money.
Most bigger auto parts stores will "loan" a compression gauge (with a deposit)
Is there any smoke in the exhaust, and if so, what color, and when do you see it?
RH
Highly doubtful of a 900 mile trip....
1 in 50...
There's not any smoke coming from my car - of any color. My 1st cylinder has 50lb compression so i'm running on 5 cylinders.
Just an update. I made it back to Texas. I'm not really driving my car at the moment. It doesn't seem to be running any different than it was but I'm still staying off of it. Thanks for all of the help so far guys.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace