Looking for advice on an Atomic 4 repair / replacement

[roadnsky]

By the way.. there's a oil drain plug on the bottom front, right? Leaked a bit as soon as I got it home.

Distro/Alternator SIDE of the engine down low under the starter.

It probably leaked when it got laid over because there isn't a seal to stop oil from leaking out from the flywheel end

[thatch]

New oil change method?

I think we may be on to something here, just tip the engine up on it's flywheel end and let the oil run out. As Jerry said, there is no oil seal on that end of the crankshaft.
Tom

[infy]

There's still a chance the current engine could still be saved. Haven't given up on it. But I can't do much on it on weekdays at the marina.

So I plan to spend a few evenings working on the replacement A4. In case I do end up having to use it.

I've got some basics in mind.. but what necessary seals, gaskets, and hard-to-get-to parts should I be sure to add to my list?

[infy]

Might be too late but here's the reading material for that procedure...

Perfect. Thanks for posting that.

[infy]

Okay - I drained the water out of the block and did a cooling system pressure test using the PDF guide posted by roadnsky. It looks like I got it setup correctly.

The block held pressure and I don't think it dropped at all over the hour.

But what exactly does that tell me?

I've got practically 0 compression in the cylinders. If the block holds cooling pressure what would the next step be?

[Peter]

good news!

good pressure test tells you that the lack of compression is not due to a cracked head or cylinder block. It also tells you that the exhaust manifold is ok.

I think I would be looking, as has already been suggested, at sticky valves.

Pull the plugs and turn it over to see if the valves are moving. More conclusively, pull the valve cover plate and see what you can see there.

Hope that helps,

Peter

[infy]

That helps!

I removed the valve cover to check on the valves. It's tricky to turn the engine over and record a video of it. I just have some photos for now. The valves look... ok. I'll try turning the engine over and record a video.

Keep in mind that all 4 cylinders have no compression. So if it's something wrong with the valves, it must be wrong on all of them. Which seems.... unusual. But I suppose it's possible.

I'm going to remove the exhaust manifold and also see if I can manage to get the cylinder head off.

[roadnsky]

Are you confident in your Compression Gauge and procedure?
Also, did you do a "dry" AND "wet" test?

[infy]

Yeah. The compression gauge is new. I used the same gauge to test the rusty A4 I purchased on Sunday. That engine read 120 on all 4 cylinders.

Dry test.

Also did the "thumb over the spark plug" test. Felt no air pressure at all.

[ndutton]

it's pretty clear you have a good engine with stuck valves. Stuck open, when they stick it's always open.

[infy]

it's pretty clear you have a good engine with stuck valves. Stuck open, when they stick it's always open.

None of them appear to be open or stuck in the photo?

[ndutton]

It's hard to tell in the picture but it looks to me like #2 exhaust valve is stuck. A few can't be determined because the cam is pushing up their lifters at the time the picture was taken. #1 exhaust is out of the frame.

[infy]

Thermostat isn't looking great.

[edwardc]

It's hard to tell in the picture but it looks to me like #2 exhaust valve is stuck. A few can't be determined because the cam is pushing up their lifters at the time the picture was taken. #1 exhaust is out of the frame.

I concur. In your second valve photo, look at the third valve from the right. There appears to be a gap between the bottom of the valve stem and the top of the adjuster.

[infy]

I concur. In your second valve photo, look at the third valve from the right. There appears to be a gap between the bottom of the valve stem and the top of the adjuster.

I'll turn the engine over tomorrow. Should shine some light on the valve condition.

All the head nuts are off. Some came out with the stem. Super simple engine to work on. I'm going to try and leave as many stems in as possible so I don't need to risk breaking one.

But the head is stuck on. Going to pick up some wood blocks and wedges to hammer on it a bit tomorrow.