Fresh Engine. Low Compression

a91what

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Apr 6, 2011
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ok so i have a huge problem. my new 306 ran great on initial start up but now the cylinder walls are washed down.... 30lbs of compression on new moly rings. I am hoping some of the gurus out there have some special trick to get them to come back. i really dont want to pull it back out and rebuild it again. rings were sealed power moly. i made sure to install them dot up and clock the intermediate ring 180* from top ring.

Thanks
 
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First off, how are you performing the compression test? Are you using the starter to turn the engine over, or are you doing it by hand? If by hand, you will never get good numbers out of it. You will have to use the starter. If they are washed, my buddy used ATF fluid on his four wheeler to accomplish resealing. I believe he poured it in and let it sit over night.

Keep us up to date, and good luck.

Joe
 
I've used marvel mystery oil once to get some ring seal back in an old junk yard motor. If it is a new motor, the right way to do it unfortunately is to pull it apart and hone the cylinders re gap a new set of rings and re assemble...
 
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well i just built it i honed the block and cleaned it before assembly. i used a regular ball hone 5-6 passes with some oil for lube. the car ran great then it just stopped. i literally fired it up twice once to set timing and adjust the idle the second time was to check my t-5. the third atempt was a failure which resulted in the test. 30lbs with starter turning it over, then put air on the cylinder 150psi from compressor and noticed air in thecrank case. i guess what im asking is do i need to rip it all back out, i have never had this problem before.
 
If the ball hone you used is too coarse then you may have wiped out the rings. Modern rings like a very fine finish on the hone job. Typical ball hones are way to coarse to do the job correctly. In fact I have yet to find a commercially available ( auto parts store) ball hone that was fine enough to do the job right.
 
If the ball hone you used is too coarse then you may have wiped out the rings. Modern rings like a very fine finish on the hone job. Typical ball hones are way to coarse to do the job correctly. In fact I have yet to find a commercially available ( auto parts store) ball hone that was fine enough to do the job right.
I want to say my ball hone is 400 grit.. I had to order it but I've re ringed a few stock 302's with it and never had any trouble. I know what you mean though, most cheap autoparts store hones are 80 or 120 grit.
 
All eight cylinders are at thirty pounds? ;) j/k
"my new 306" why'd you re-ring a new engine?
This one is a good example of: when troubleshooting ask questions before providing answers.
"well i just built it" (read before answering)
I don't have a full set of micrometers and my own machine shop guess I'm not an engine builder

this one has me wanting to ask more questions than I'd have answers for heh heh
 
All eight cylinders are at thirty pounds? ;) j/k
"my new 306" why'd you re-ring a new engine?
This one is a good example of: when troubleshooting ask questions before providing answers.
"well i just built it" (read before answering)
I don't have a full set of micrometers and my own machine shop guess I'm not an engine builder

this one has me wanting to ask more questions than I'd have answers for heh heh
:scratch::shrug:
 
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All eight cylinders are at thirty pounds? ;) j/k
"my new 306" why'd you re-ring a new engine?
This one is a good example of: when troubleshooting ask questions before providing answers.
"well i just built it" (read before answering)
I don't have a full set of micrometers and my own machine shop guess I'm not an engine builder

this one has me wanting to ask more questions than I'd have answers for heh heh

Full rebiuld balanced assembly kings bearings ported gts ported cobra intake, block bored .030 reused feom previous build.
This is not my first build but it is the first time iveused moly rings.

Keep the smart ass comments in the honda forums please.
 
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well i just built it i honed the block and cleaned it before assembly. i used a regular ball hone 5-6 passes with some oil for lube. the car ran great then it just stopped. i literally fired it up twice once to set timing and adjust the idle the second time was to check my t-5. the third atempt was a failure which resulted in the test. 30lbs with starter turning it over, then put air on the cylinder 150psi from compressor and noticed air in thecrank case. i guess what im asking is do i need to rip it all back out, i have never had this problem before.

Are all the cylinders coming in at 30#? If so then i'd tear it down and inspect. I doubt your going to find a 100psi fix without going back inside and actually fixing what's wrong. It's either a bad hone or wrong rings is my guess.

How did you break in the motor?
 
ok no damning evidence in the oil. it was slightly off color darkish looking but still clean, very thin from fuel. the fiter had some shinny silver metallic in it not a ton but enough to bother me. im hoping its just from the bearings the kings are all babbot.