Built For Speed Or For Comfort? Part I

    Good day everyone and welcome to the second blog of Weekend Mechanics. Today's topic: engines. Now when it comes to engines, the first question is bound to be, "Is the engine built for comfort, or for speed?

    Initially, when asking yourself this question about your engine, you need to consider whether or not you want to rebuild the entire engine block, or add performance to your existing engine. If you are looking to build upon your existing block let's first go through some check points to find out if the engine is in good operating condition. If you are looking to rebuild the engine completely that will be covered in part two.

    First, you must always check the oil; Pull the dip stick and observe closely the condition of your oil.

• If oil is black the engine was neglected and could possibly have further damage.
• If oil smells burnt: improper lubrication can be the cause, with the rod or the main bearings.
• If the oil smells like fuel, this could indicate worn piston rings or cylinder wall.

    Next, drain the oil and look for any metal shavings (a small amount is normal) but if the oil sparkles, then excessive wear and tear is the cause and the engine would need to be rebuilt. Fill the engine up with oil.

The next step is to pull a spark plug and check its conditions:

• Burnt (black)- improper burning, burnt exhaust valve, fuel ratio is too rich.
• Porcelain cracked-   pre-ignition or detonation
• White- coolant leak inside cylinder

    After you have pulled and checked all the plugs, this would be a good time to do a compression test. If you do not have a compression tester, you can rent or buy one from your local motor parts store. In order to do a compression test, you need to find out what the compression ratio is for your specific vehicle; it can be found in the repair manual which should be located in your vehicle's glove box.

     To perform a compression test:

Pull the ignition wire going from the coil to the distributor cap to prevent spark through the wires.

Thread the tester into the spark plug hole and crank over the engine let it crank over 4 times.

Watch the needle and record the reading do this three times for each cylinder. The compression for all the cylinders should be around the same with only a 10% difference between the lowest and the highest recording. This indicates:

• Proper sealing of the piston rings
• Intake and exhaust valves are working and seating properly
• The head gasket is in good condition

    Another required test is a vacuum test. A vacuum gauge which can be found at your local parts store is needed. After you have put the spark plugs back in and replaced any that are damaged hook up the vacuum gauge by simply attaching it to an existing port located on the intake manifold or at the base of the carburetor. Start the engine and watch the gauge. Here are some reading to help with figuring out what your looking at:

   Now that the basic engine tests have been performed you can determine whether or not it might be easier to rebuilt or to add performance to your existing engine. In part 2 the discussion of those performance parts and the building of the engine will occur.