Im in no way affiliated with them, i have never been to Victoria and i have never heard about Dontex before this thread . In addition, i have no love for workshops carrying out substandard work and bringing the whole trade into disrepute. BUT. Misinformation can ruin their reputation , your reputation on here and lower the spirit of the forum in general. Ill be interested to hear the results but i wont be suprised either way and wont care to be honest but at least the results will be verified to a degree
OK. I choose to not take this any further. Stuff the results, it isn't worth the upset for anyone. If members are happy with shop. Good. I'm moving on so, sorry to all I offended
I think it is worth posting the results, Im sure you can understand, i wasnt having a dig at you directly or standing up for the workshop, only saying unverified claims are not welcome in my opinion, the same way if a workshop came on here and bagged the shit out of a forum member without backing it up properly.
That's probably a sensible decision. For what it's worth, it's not so much Dontex that a lot of the Vic crew are happy with, but their mechanic Joe Imbesi who is a zed guru. A lot of us have followed him to wherever he works.
IMO having results that close across all 6 is a bit weird. I have never had it like that before... Not all at the same PSI like that. But having consistently lower results on one bank generally points towards a cam timing issue. I've seen a few zeds that have sheared off the locating pin on the intake camshaft which then allows the cam to move independantly of the sprocket which can give low comp on one bank. Also see the timing belt put on a tooth out.
Sexzx, i told you that at that place of question that you will get a big bs story about compression. As it was said to me just 2 weeks ago by the same "expert". funny thing with mine is that 2 weeks ago i had 10psi in cylinder number 3, bahhaha what a joke, problem all solved now by not a "expert z mech" but instead by someone with real integrity and skill. it took 5 minutes sandpaper and a thin screwdriver fixed up injector wire, bang bang car running on all 6 again. to be sure compression tested and all came back pretty even all around. Sexzx wasnt bagging anybody simply questioning this bs result of a comp test result, anybody would be stupid not to (glad i did). if some people want to put all their belife in one "z expert" go ahead but look around for people who are actually an expert in their trade. bahhaa no compression 1 day good compression the next. nice try joe.
2nded on cam timing as a possible culprit But does this all really matter if the engine is giving you the power desired and there are no malfunctions? More important than overall comp numbers, a big difference between adjoining cylinders is more a cause for concern. Even with the number ranges across all the comp tests-yours is not that bad at all. As others have said. "rebuilt 20K ago" doesn't mean you have all brand-new internals. Like everything else on these cars, things are ~ 20 years old now.
Those first lines of close figures were the readings from DONTEX! My readings were the ones all over the place. Thanks, will mention this to mechanic but, he'd have to pull plenum & timing cover to check wouldn't he. I'm not sure about timing on these...... Well, anyone want to comment on this? This is what my gripe was in the first place.........
from my own personal experiences, never take someones word on work that has been performed on a car, and specially never let it be the contributing factor to your purchase! unless you have receipts for the work and have spoken to the mechanic that performed it! i purchased a 10 second vt ss from melbourne back in 06, based on the fact that it had only done 'a few' passes. the only thing that was salvagable in the entire engine/driveline was the camshaft, and the differential! Not even kidding!
Yep, I know the ones all over the shop are your results, that's why I'm saying the mechanics results are a little odd. Nuh, just pull the two upper timing belt covers. Remove the VVT spring cover on the intake gears and look down the keyway. You will be able to see the locating pin and it is obvious if it is damaged/broken. Don't have to pull the plenum at all. Diagnosing stuff like this can get expensive, if you have the tools, DIY.
Exactly how my mechanic feels! There is a big difference with left bank figures. 160; 120; 157 --------------------------------------------------- Well, just returned from my mechanic. He doesn't believe the need for the expense of another comp test or leakdown test for that matter. The 2 mechanics @ the shop disagree with each other concerning the wet test myth. 1 believes there shouldn't be a discrepancy higher than 5-10psi while the other believes it can be even 20psi, even on a new engine? One mechanic feels compression loss could be through the valves but wasn't concerned about timing? When I told him spark plugs were light brown/white he stated this is good but still on the lean side. I guess if there was a timing issue, it would have showed up on the diagnosis test? Also, it engine wouldn't run so smooth & power as it does? Anyway, car didn't blow smoke @ the shop (Murphy's law) but smoke rose up from under engine from an oil leak. Looks like a rocker cover leak as the plug chamber was soaked with oil when I checked. I told him there was oil in the plenum when I looked with balance tube off. He said that's normal. Now, most interesting was he didn't like the DET sensor bypass I did. The emissions diagnostics machine showed car is running lean. AFR was 1.10, should be 1.0. He is worried about the life of the valves if this remains. I was under the impression that if I kept turbos from heavy boost it would help, which it will but, even @ idle it showed the same as when revving engine. Anyway, moving on. I'm just going to enjoy driving it for now & contemplate the plenum pull I guess up ahead to replace rocker covers & do the water line bypass & DET sensor replacement etc. Thanks for everyone's input
I reckon. Sometimes it's too easy to be taken for a ride. You do trust people to some degree & they lie through their arse. The 87' Merc I got prior to the Zed is immaculate. 50k original mileage. Interior smick. New paintwork in thick red. Was purring on idle when it got off the trailer. Took it round the block, well.....chocolate milkshake anyone Drained 11 ltrs oil/coolant out of the sump! When I spoke to workshop who did the work they explained the head was porous & the previous owner was warned to replace it. They still put the old head back on. Coulda got an exchanged reco one for 1k! That was the start the "money pit". I located an engine from Sydney with 185psi on all pots. I pulled out the trans & got it rebuilt with a stage 1 (light) shift kit & 2500rpm stally & all mounts replaced. Front flex plate replaced. A-hole workshop had car for 11 months, did bugger all so I have it home now contemplating selling it off as an unfinished project. This is why I was a little edgy with my new purchase. If I sell it I will lose about 8-10k straight off the bat!
if the comp is 120 130 (give or take) all way around then the comp is still good . yes its down but still good. comp testing is one way to see how it is , but not to be taken as a 100% guarantee if the engine is giving you problems , smoke / oil /running shit . etc etc . then i would look into it . as you say in some of your post , it still runs good and has good power, in this case i would just leave it alone.. some people build engine to run low comp ( don't let this alarm you , ) comp is not the only thing that will tell you how healthy an engine is . i just like you don't really like the mech shops . i see what you are saying tho . things will sort themselves out in time , in the mean time just do some homework and fix it .. got to go
Thanks m8. I'm feeling a bit easier about it after you guys assure me the comp isn't that bad. The 120 pot in between the 160 & 157 though is still a bit weird....
A short(one of many) bearing story Had my engine built some time ago( I supplied all the parts, everything, and they were happy to let me do it) I wanted certain parts used in the build, original graded ome bearings was one. I told the builder/shop that is what wanted, I was told, nah we use acl, to which I said pull the crank and send me the grade size and colour of the bearings. They got back to me with a bs bearing list, none of the sizes colours or grades made sense, in fact they just made it up fully intending to use acl bearings regardless. To say I was pissed of is an understatement, anyway I told them there list was bullshit, they went over it again, and came up with the right grades. I could say a lot more about these idiots, as the above is only one separate instance in a host of we?ll do our way, and fk you jack. Never will I use this shop again.
Well, I'm stuffed if I know guys I did have an independent comp test performed, as a few members suggested. Comp readings are as follows: Left Bank: 158 - 142 - 156 = dry Right Bank: 138 - 137 - 154 = dry Could it be due to the oil change? I tried 20w50 to see if this would make a difference? But these figures are still close to the one's I did, better, but confirms the original mis-diagnoses! Very confusing car. Also, I disconnected the o2 sensors which made it idle/run erratically, as was suggested so, they must be working Economy is much better, 120kms on 3/4 mark, so prolly even better once tank is refilled as it goes down quicker at the first half. That's mixed driving too btw........
