compression test woes !!!

rixm37 · Post by **rixm37** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:51 pm

Thanks for the help Charles, I wish I had done the compression test when I purchased my "restored" truck in May of '06 but I was just not thinking or was it too trusting a little of both. looks like a rebuild is the only real option now....

MSeriesRebuild · Post by **MSeriesRebuild** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:43 am

rixm37 wrote:Thanks for the help Charles, I wish I had done the compression test when I purchased my "restored" truck in May of '06 but I was just not thinking or was it too trusting a little of both. looks like a rebuild is the only real option now....

The words "RESTORED/OVERHAULED/REBUILT", etc means many things to many folks. I think you already know what these words mean to us here. If you bought a truck from us that has the word restored attached, it would be gone through completely from front to rear & priced accordingly. When you are offered a vehicle that the seller claims is restored for a low or even moderate cost, look out something is wrong with that picture. I haven't seen any seller yet that wanted to sell at a loss. With the cost of even a done right do it yourself restoration running $25,000 plus these days. You can quickly see there will be no genuinely RESTORED trucks offered for sale at bargain prices. There are too many folks that try to pass off a coat of paint as being a restoration. We have a name for that around here, it's called a "Simonize overhaul".

rixm37 · Post by **rixm37** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:55 pm

Amen to that Charles. I have learned allot since 06 and have found other issues with the truck but I had thought that the engine was acceptable. I took the head to Tucson Cylinder Head and they are looking it over . They said there is evidence that there was a leak between 4 and 5 . While talking and looking at the gasket and head it was pointed out to me that the gasket had been installed wrong and some of the water ways were blocked. Well for now they are going to look over the head clean it check it for warpage and magnaflux it for cracks. Next I am going to deal with the cracked valve. Gotta start somewhere!! I wiped the top of the engine off real well and have not spotted anything else the cyl walls look ok I haven't checked them real close but I didn't find any deep scoring as of yet. As I get some time in the garage I will check each bore carefully.

Lifer · Post by **Lifer** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:27 pm

"Simonize Overhaul," eh? I like that term. Never heard that one before. I do know a body shop owner who has been known to comment on "Rust-Oleum restorations" at various local car shows.

MSeriesRebuild · Post by **MSeriesRebuild** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:08 pm

Oh yeh, there's all sorts of names people have hung on substandard jobs, I get a laugh most everytime I hear one.

Since you mentioned some of the coolant ports were blocked, that may well be why the valve was cracked as that would greatly hinder heat transfer away from the areas where the blockages were. It's a real possibility more cracks may be located because of it. Hope this issue doesn't turn out to be a really big deal for you. You won't be able to eyeball cylinder damage doing even a seriously close visual inspection. Of course you could detect something obvious, but you need to do some serious checking of each cylinder bore with a bore gage to check for egg shaped or out-of-round cylinders. You need to determine whether the cylinders are standard or oversized, then use the correct diameter as a base line to check by. This heat transfer issue you have discovered raises many questions in my mind. Really serious checking for cracks will be a MUST on this one.

Lifer · Post by **Lifer** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:01 am

I agree with Charles on the inspection thing. Take the block and heads to a reputable machine shop and have them magnafluxed! You could have all kinds of cracks that aren't visible to the naked eye. It won't cost you much. Some shops will even do it for free. Better to have it done now than to put it all back together and then discover that you have a major problem.

rixm37 · Post by **rixm37** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:40 am

Just got back in town from work. I have found other problems visible scoring in 5 and 6 begining to look like I am down for the count. Cylinder head was in good shape and is being resurfaced. Overall I am not real happy

It's begining to look like my truck has run it's last mile for quite a while.