A Whole Lot Of Badness

Timmie_g · Post by **Timmie_g** » July 18th, 2007, 9:43 pm

Well earlier today I received my new KLZE, its a Curved neck. Now i pulled all the plugs while i had it on the engine stand i thought id do a compression test by manually spinning the crank.

compression went like so:

Cyl 1- 110
Cyl 2- 120
Cyl 3- 90
Cyl 4- 135
Cyl 5- 90
Cyl 6-120

now i dont know what the specs are suppossed to be or if my readings were acurate due to it being done on a stand and manually spinning the crank with a wrench.

but im worried cause those numbers are low for any other engine and extremely low for a ZE(from what i understand)

anyboady have any ideas

MazdaNoob123 · Post by **MazdaNoob123** » July 18th, 2007, 10:37 pm

thats not how you do it, thats wrong.
You want to do whats called a leak down test using a compressor and a gauge like this http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
read instructions...

Vanished · Post by **Vanished** » July 18th, 2007, 10:53 pm

I wouldn't say a compression test is 'doing it wrong' because it's a good indication of leaks....a leak down test simply shows were the leaks are (in the form of air bubbles or hissing). The KLZE compression specs should be close to 200 IIRC. Turn it over the same time for each for each cyl and turn each one over more than once, because your numbers seem awfly low.

MazdaNoob123 · Post by **MazdaNoob123** » July 18th, 2007, 10:59 pm

Vanished wrote:I wouldn't say a compression test is 'doing it wrong' because it's a good indication of leaks....a leak down test simply shows were the leaks are (in the form of air bubbles or hissing). The KLZE compression specs should be close to 200 IIRC. Turn it over the same time for each for each cyl and turn each one over more than once, because your numbers seem awfly low.

the way he did it is wrong. You cant do a compression test using a wrench to turn the motor over, youll get #'s like he did. If you want to perform a test to see if the motor is leaking when the motor is out of the car and there is no way of turning the motor over the same amount or same speed. Then use a leak down tester. % i think should be around 3-11% depending amount of abuse the motor has undergone, if it starts getting higher you have problems, etheir bad valve seats, or bad piston rings.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » July 19th, 2007, 11:56 am

Noob is right.. you arent going to get accurate compression readings spinning the engine by hand. Unless you can use the starter to spin the engine for each cylinder.. your results will be erratic at best. A leak down test is the way to go in this instance.

Tunes67

94mx3precidia · Post by **94mx3precidia** » July 19th, 2007, 9:42 pm

those numbers are pretty low, ive done compression tests on motocross bikes and they were just a bit higher. When u do a compression test u have to turn the engine over as fast as you can in order to reach a maximum reading.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » July 20th, 2007, 1:28 am

pfft LOL dude thats not a way to compression test.. no wonder you got those numbers.. LOL do the leak down or do what I did simply install it and compression test it afterward. Also the compression test results should be marked on the IM usually by the seller.

I had 190 COLD compression test. warm was a bit over 210.

My ze runs strong and burns no oil. Remove the valve cover and see if the prev owner did its regular oil changes. You shouldnt have much to worry since
klzes are low milleage engines.

Timmie_g · Post by **Timmie_g** » July 20th, 2007, 2:05 am

yea i pulled the valve covers to change the gaskets and to inspect everything, it looked good, i changed all the timing components and water pump, got new belts and tensioners,

tomorrow im gonna yank the K8 and replace it.

Does anyone know if its easier to take it out of the top or drop it out through the bottom. Im doing it at the shop tomorrow during work so i can do either really easily.

To me it seems like taking the K8 out the bottom would be easier. but you guys are the experts.

ninjajim4 · Post by **ninjajim4** » July 20th, 2007, 10:39 am

no... from the top with a hoist...

mx3autozam · Post by **mx3autozam** » July 20th, 2007, 11:07 am

from the top..just jack up the car go under and remove the axles, shifter linkeages and eveyrthing underneath. Than pull it as one unit motor and tranny. depending on the type of engine crane you have. you may need to remove the hood as well. then unbolt tranny from motor and put it on new motor with your clutch and put it back in car.

Red Rocket · Post by **Red Rocket** » July 20th, 2007, 4:50 pm

I havent done a ze swap yet but Ive done a few fwd cars before. And if you have a hoist then the bottom is way easier. Unbolt everything, hoist up the car, take engine off and install new one. Aslong as you dont move anything in the driveline then lower the car right back on top and bolt back in.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » July 20th, 2007, 5:11 pm

Yeah.. um.. I pulled the axles.. unbolted the jackshaft (intermediate shaft) from the back side of the engine, unbolted the motor mounts and pulled the motor and tranny out as a unit. I did remove the hood just for clearance. Dropped the old ATX off and bolted up the new 5spd and put it all back together. The wiring harness was probably the most annoying part of the whole deal, with the exception of the exaust manifolds.. those sucked big time.

Tunes67

Timmie_g · Post by **Timmie_g** » July 20th, 2007, 8:46 pm

yea im doing it at my shop so i have a hoist that it will be on.

it shouldnt take too long, i think droping it out the bottom wil be easier. just because i ave acess to all the tools and such, once the K8 is out i have to swap a couple peices over to the new engine but overall it seems like it will be pretty easy, except for all the vacuum lines lol

Timmie_g · Post by **Timmie_g** » July 21st, 2007, 10:47 pm

I was completly worng.

I spent 6 hours today and am now mentally drained. The k8 is just now ready to come out and will be lifted out tomorrow, but im worried about getting the ZE running tomorrow. If it goes anything like today im going to run into problem after problem.

I had to remove both knuckles from the car because my axle shafts were seized into the knuckles, then the ball joints were seized so i ended up having to replace those, as well as replace both from wheel bearings, and axle shafts. Essentially everything was seaized and im not sure y the climate usually doesnt do that here but regardless,the k8 is ready to come out with the exception of 2 motor mounts.

I dont think i was prepared for this swap i went into it thinking it was alot easier than it is.

maybe im just a terrible mechanic and should look into switching professions

94mx3precidia · Post by **94mx3precidia** » July 22nd, 2007, 12:17 am

everything happens for a reason man. Just think of the good times u'll have with the klze in there, she'll purr nice. u have to come into things thinking the worst so that things will turn out good, and get some of the penetrating oil stuff. it works wonders, i mean it. i used it when i replaced my axels and what not and i managed to get the seized stuff out. Oh, and you dont have to take out the upper ball joint or lower ball joint to take out the axels, you just have to take the bottom 2 bolts holding in the bottom ball joink out and te whole assembly swings to the side. hope u know what i mean.