COMPRESSION AND LEAK DOWN TESTING

A very important piece of information about the internal condition of an engine is a leak down test. This test is very different from a compression test. We will try to explain
the differences and the reasons for the tests.

Compression Test

A compression test is done (obviously) with a compression gauge. This is basically a pressure gauge that has a one-way check valve and an adapter to screw into a
spark plug hole. With a good battery and a warm engine, we remove all the spark plugs. The compression tester is screwed in place of one spark plug and while holding
the throttle plate open, the engine is cranked over. The engine is allowed to rotate a few times to build up pressure and this pressure is recorded. Each of the cylinders
are checked in the same way.

In our opinion, all cylinders should be within 4% of each other. If you have a cylinder that has excessively low compression, try adding a few drops of oil. If the
compression comes up, you have a ring seating problem. If it does not, you have a valve or head gasket problem, or some other problem.

Benefits:
 Quick and easy
 All shops can do it
 Gives a general idea of the internal engine condition

Drawbacks:
 Doesn't pinpoint problem areas
 Unless done on a regular basis, you have little reference to the actual condition

Leak Down Test

A leak down test is more specific in pinpointing the condition of an engine and if there are problems, it can pinpoint the needed area of attention. A leak down test is
performed with a special gauge and manifold set. It consists of a calibrated pressure gauge and a pressure regulator and adapters to connect it to the spark plug hole.
Compressed air (or nitrogen) is fed into the gauge and the gauge is calibrated against a zero reference (no air leakage). The adapter is then screwed into the number one
spark plug hole (with cylinder #1 at TDC compression) and the gauge is attached. As soon as the gauge is attached to the adapter air will begin to fill the cylinder. As this
happens, the gauge will begin to indicate the amount of air flowing into the cylinder.
 If air is leaking past the rings, or the valves, or the head gasket, we can directly read the amount of leakage and can easily find the leak. If there is air blowing out the
PCV, we have a ring leak, if it's coming out of the exhaust, we have an exhaust valve leak, and so on...

FYI: All Lotus 907 engines with 25,000 miles or more that I have worked on have had an exhaust valve leak on #4 and sometimes #3.

A leak down test is especially good at discovering leaky valves. We use much less pressure (about 80 psi) than is normally in the combustion chamber (several hundred
psi). If there is a valve that is slightly off its seat, the actual combustion pressure may have helped close it, but the lower testing pressure won't exert as much force and
the leak will be apparent.

This test is very time-consuming with the engine in the car. To do the test, each cylinder must be tested one at a time, they must be at TDC compression, and the crank
must be held in place to prevent rotation. A freshly rebuilt engine should have less that 4% leak down on each cylinder and if leak down is above 10%, service should be
performed. All cylinders should be within 2 percentage points of each other. NOTE: These figures are for performance engines. Stock production engines may have
as much as 10% right off the assembly line.

Benefits:
 Direct reading of each cylinder's condition
 Pin points any problem areas

Drawbacks:
 Difficult to perform
 Time consuming
 Requires source of steady air pressure

If you ask your shop to do a leak down test, they may offer to do a compression test or may hesitate or quote a high price for the work. This is not uncommon -- it is not a
simple task. If the shop that you use doesn't know what a leak down test is, then you should leave quickly and politely and never return. They do not have the proper
diagnostics knowledge to be working on your engine.

I will add that every engine that I have done a leak down test on has been on an engine stand. The Lotus 4-cylinder 907 engine is very easy to test this way. If you pull the
cam towers, then all of the valves are closed, making every cylinder in compression. The Toyota engines can be done similarly by removing the camshafts, others can be
done by removing the rocker shafts. Removing the camshafts, rocker shafts, or cam towers is typically required to remove the head anyway, so during a tear down and
rebuild, a leak down test is a simple task to perform.

From : http://www.wcengineering.com/articles/leakdown.html

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Anyone know of any good guides for doing a Compression test? trying to explain it to my
dad through email is a pain.

also, any idea's you can think of to track down sneaky vacuum leaks. i told him to try
puttin pressure to it with an air compressor to see if it holds pressure and if it doesnt to
listen for a hissing noise.
What you describe is a "leak-down" test, only indirectly related to vacuum.

Again Google is your friend, "engine leak down test" gets 2.2M hits...

A vacuum gauge can tell you a lot about how and engine is doing, here's how to
interpret the results:
Anyone know of any good guides for doing a Compression test? trying to explain it to my
dad through email is a pain.

also, any idea's you can think of to track down sneaky vacuum leaks. i told him to try
puttin pressure to it with an air compressor to see if it holds pressure and if it doesnt to
listen for a hissing noise.