Is my engine dead?

[JamesDaniel80]

Hi guys,

I think my engine might be done.

All of a sudden, it started running really rough and having had a compression test done, cylinders 1 and 2 are running around 190psi.

Cylinders 3 and 4 are running on about 25!!

Has anyone come across this before? Am I missing something simple or is this it for my MR2?

Thanks,

James

[kaiowas]

Certainly sounds like theres something wrong if you have no compression on 2 cylinders, it's likely to indicate an air path between those two cylinders most probably due to a head gasket breach although there are other possible causes.

[gnzyza]

leak down test it to pin point where the loss is

[Lauren]

Bet it's rings or something that's caused damage to them. But not a good sign!

Good luck. Hope it's a head gasket, but I have my doubts.

About the only thing to do is take the head off to see what's going on.

[JamesDaniel80]

Thanks guys.

It turns out there is a slight groove in the engine block around cylinder 4.

It's cheaper to get a replacement engine...

On that note, does anyone want to buy a 1987 MR2 engine?

2 good cylinders...😉

[SuperRedMR2]

Is the groove in the barrel? I'm interested if it's on the deck.

[JamesDaniel80]

A groove on the flat of the block where it would meet the head gasket.

[SuperRedMR2]

Got any pics?

[JamesDaniel80]

Not at the moment.

It's coming out of my car in a few days. I'll get the cylinder head back off once it's out and take some pics.

The little groove was initially noticed when I got the head gasket done a couple of years ago but it would have been a mission to get the block skimmed too so we decided to chance it and torque it down a bit more on that side.

I had two years out of it before it went...I'm sure a block skim would solve it.