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oil consumption and compression testing

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Old Nov 18, 2004 | 02:59 PM
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Cool oil consumption and compression testing

i have a 91 2.3L ranger that never really consumed oil (1 or so quarts of oil every 3k miles) until recently. two oil changes ago, it began using oil (1 quart every 600-700 miles) all of the sudden. just before that oil change (i use motorcraft 5/30 with motorcraft filter), i used seafoam and sucked it into the manifold to decarbon. some crap did come out but could it have damaged something internally, causing it to use oil? the weird thing (to me) is that i have had my dad follow me several times and he has never seen any smoke whatso ever. i also put a huge piece of cardboard under my truck several times to see if it was leaking someplace and found nothing. i bought a compression tester today and i will test the compression when it stop raining here. my engine has the distributorless ignition system with dual plugs. do i just have to unplug one of the coils to disable the ignition system or is there more to it? and with the dual plugs, i only have to test one side, right?

thanks in advance
 
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Old Nov 18, 2004 | 03:41 PM
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Yes, just pull the plugs that are the easiest to get to to do the compression test. In addition to pulling the coil pack control connectors, pull the fuel pump relay to keep fuel from being injected while cranking. A test that is probably more sensitive is a cylinder leak down test.....
 
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Old Nov 18, 2004 | 03:46 PM
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thanks bob,

any other feedback is appreciated.
 
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Old Nov 18, 2004 | 05:08 PM
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Did you change brands of oil or do you consistently use that same brand? I've seen rigs that never had consumption issues begin to use it when the brand was changed.
 
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Old Nov 18, 2004 | 10:56 PM
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I have used motorcraft for a long time. i normally use 5/30 but when it started using oil i tried 10/30 and once put a quart of 10/40 in but it didn't help
 
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Old Nov 18, 2004 | 11:05 PM
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does anyone know the normal compression that the 2.3L should have?
 
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Old Nov 19, 2004 | 02:20 AM
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The compression ratio for that motor is 9.2:1. Its naturaly going to be a little bit lower than that because of the age of the motor.
 
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Old Nov 19, 2004 | 08:23 PM
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Anything above 120 psi should be fine as long as there all within 10%.
 
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Old Nov 19, 2004 | 08:43 PM
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thanks for the info greasemonkey and ken. btw, nice pic of tyron greasemonkey
 
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Old Nov 19, 2004 | 10:32 PM
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Thanks El I like to make people smile or laugh thats why I have it on there plus the chapelle show is great
 
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Old Nov 19, 2004 | 10:45 PM
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i agree. he is very funny
 
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Old Nov 20, 2004 | 07:50 AM
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For more realistic compression results, make sure that the engine is warm, all spark plugs are removed, and the ignition is disabled when doing the compression test.
 
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Old Nov 20, 2004 | 11:10 AM
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i finally have a chance this afternoon to do the test so ill let you all know the results.
 
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Old Nov 20, 2004 | 11:47 AM
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There's a bit more to watch for than just the total pressure developed. How the engine builds compression is of interest too. A sound engine should develop the bulk of the compression on the first few revs.
 
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Old Nov 21, 2004 | 04:53 PM
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i finally did the test and did each cylinder 3 times and cylinders 1,2, and 4 were all right at 180 every time and cylinder 3 was at 180, then about 184, then about 187. and billy, the bulk of the compression was within the first few revs on all cylinders. i talked to a guy at advance auto about the oil consumption and he told me to try replacing the pcv valve so i did ( it was due to be changed soon anyway). let me know if the compression is high
thanks for all the help guys!
 
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