Compression/leak down testers

[qwerty]

Well I've bought something K series powered that runs terribly (bad miss, barely idles)....readers ride thread to follow.

I want to see what kind of condition the engine is in before throwing money at it so want to buy a compression/leak down tester.

Do I need a leak down tester or will a straight compression tester do? Any reccomendations of what to buy?
You can get them fairly cheap on ebay/amazon, but I always find that peoples actual experiences are better to go by.

[ChasR]

A compression tester can give you an idea of there potentially showing you an issue ; a leakdown tester will pinpoint the issue better.

Yes you can make a compression tester give you a more conclusive result but IME a leakdown tester will generally pinpoint the issue better. Putting oil down the bore may indicate the rings have gone gone but the oil quantity put down the bores can also throw off the reading...

It's horses for courses really, but a leakdown tester can be more indicative of where the issue lies (the valves, the bores, the head gasket etc. However, you will need some sort of air compressor to make the leakdown tester work.

As another positive the leakdown tester can come in handy for a few jobs, including changing valve stem oil seals without taking the head off .

[qwerty]

Hmmm I have no compressor so I guess that rules that one out.

Will a cheap ebay compression tester suffice? I'm only using it as an indicator of problems so I suppose accuracy isn't massivey important?

[swampy76]

Halfords used to sell a compression tester for not much money

[ChasR]

Sept 6, 2015 9:47:23 GMT qwerty said:

Hmmm I have no compressor so I guess that rules that one out.

Will a cheap ebay compression tester suffice? I'm only using it as an indicator of problems so I suppose accuracy isn't massivey important?

TBH it's all I have used over the years! I may consider buying a leakdown tester if I can get one of these:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-Portable-Air-Compressor-with-Air-Hose-Inflator-for-Vehicle-Car-Tyres-/400876041361?hash=item5d5612f491

Whether it will be man enough will be another matter.

[qwerty]

I've ordered a Sealey Compression tester from Amazon.

Funnily enough I've been offered a proper compressor but I've got no where to put it.

[taurus]

I was just going to say that I bought my compression tester from Machine Mart - dirt cheap and it's actually very accurate.

A leak down would be nice to have but for most things I've found the basic compression jobbie does what I need it to.

If you've been offered a compressor take it, you could knock up a box and keep it out of doors if you need to. So long as it's kept dry it'll be fine.