After getting some odd compression test results I decided to buy a leak down tester to investigate further before ripping the engine apart.
Bought a Bergen model (like this one).
No instructions but there's plenty of guides on the internet and This Video which used one just like the one I bought just branded different, and makes it sound foolproof....
Tried using it today and something's not right. Got piston no.1 to TDC, connected tester to air and set RH gauge to zero using the regulator.
Attached it to the plug hose and got a result of 80% leak
But despite that there was no sign of air escaping anywhere - crankcase, inlet, exhaust etc.
Moved on to another cylinder for comparison and the same result.
Notice the input gauge sitting at zero in the above pic, it should be still at the pressure I set with the regulator (about 1bar)
At this point I realized I'd not wound the regulator fully out and then back down to set the pressure (as in video) but doing this resulted in a lower starting pressure (less than 10psi), lower leakage (30%) and the pressure gauge still dropping to zero.
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong or what's not working on the tester - is there a way to test the tester, thinking maybe the leak gauge is not right?
The regulator looks to be working as I decided just to wind it up to 30Psi and connect to the cylinder and see what it dropped to - 25psi across the lot and I could hear air in the crankcase which does point to rings but strange it's the same drop as the compression tester only showed 2 suspect cylinders
Bought a Bergen model (like this one).
No instructions but there's plenty of guides on the internet and This Video which used one just like the one I bought just branded different, and makes it sound foolproof....
Tried using it today and something's not right. Got piston no.1 to TDC, connected tester to air and set RH gauge to zero using the regulator.
Attached it to the plug hose and got a result of 80% leak
But despite that there was no sign of air escaping anywhere - crankcase, inlet, exhaust etc.
Moved on to another cylinder for comparison and the same result.
Notice the input gauge sitting at zero in the above pic, it should be still at the pressure I set with the regulator (about 1bar)
At this point I realized I'd not wound the regulator fully out and then back down to set the pressure (as in video) but doing this resulted in a lower starting pressure (less than 10psi), lower leakage (30%) and the pressure gauge still dropping to zero.
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong or what's not working on the tester - is there a way to test the tester, thinking maybe the leak gauge is not right?
The regulator looks to be working as I decided just to wind it up to 30Psi and connect to the cylinder and see what it dropped to - 25psi across the lot and I could hear air in the crankcase which does point to rings but strange it's the same drop as the compression tester only showed 2 suspect cylinders
