Dumb question regarding compression test on Audi a4 1.8t

hi there. im really starting to grasp at straws here with my car. there is a
pretty considerable lack of power while driving it. its a 1997 A4 1.8t with
119000km on it.

i took it in to a turbo specialist (that i was told to go to by my warranty
company - and thats another story) and he said the turbo is fine. i doubt
theres a problem with the cat, its got a new air filter and new spark plugs.

what i wanted to know - because i am really new to all this stuff - is will
a compression test be easy to be done on a 1.8T engine? or do i need a
specialist to do it? on a sidenote - the car is starting to leak oil - and
they are in the process of finding out from where.

also - does anyone know if a compression problem could lead to the kind of
power loss im talkin bout?

"G" > a écrit dans le message de
s.com...
> hi there. im really starting to grasp at straws here with my car. there is
a
> pretty considerable lack of power while driving it. its a 1997 A4 1.8t
with
> 119000km on it.
>
....
>
> what i wanted to know - because i am really new to all this stuff - is
will
> a compression test be easy to be done on a 1.8T engine? or do i need a
> specialist to do it? on a sidenote - the car is starting to leak oil - and
> they are in the process of finding out from where.
>
> also - does anyone know if a compression problem could lead to the kind of
> power loss im talkin bout?
>

A compression test is easy to do, provided you have the tool to do it (a
pressure gauge with writer, to be inserted in the place of the spark plug).
A compression problem could lead to those symptoms, but I would be very
disappointed if an engine with such a low mileage could experience this
problem.

--
Best regards.
Giovanni Tarantino
Bevaix (NE)
Switzerland
1997 Audi A4 2.8 Q 223,000 km (137,000 miles)
1997 BMW 535i 221,000 km (134,000 miles)

GT - thanx for the response. i too would really hate to find out that this
is the problem. the thing is the warranty for the car is over in 3 months so
i need to get this damn thing fixed. im down to either a blown turbo that
the warranty ppl dont wanna admit or as a friend of mine was stating, a
problem with o-rings. im not willing to get a new MAF right now since from
what ive read, it never really makes a big difference.

I also wanted to know if anyone actually owns a 1.8T and did the compression
test, because the dealer i bought the car from told me that if the
compression test is done wrong itll mess up things - which i dont really
understand - but then again - i wouldnt put it past Audi.


"GT" > wrote in message
...
> "G" > a écrit dans le message de
> s.com...
> > hi there. im really starting to grasp at straws here with my car. there
is
> a
> > pretty considerable lack of power while driving it. its a 1997 A4 1.8t
> with
> > 119000km on it.
> >
> ...
> >
> > what i wanted to know - because i am really new to all this stuff - is
> will
> > a compression test be easy to be done on a 1.8T engine? or do i need a
> > specialist to do it? on a sidenote - the car is starting to leak oil -
and
> > they are in the process of finding out from where.
> >
> > also - does anyone know if a compression problem could lead to the kind
of
> > power loss im talkin bout?
> >
>
> A compression test is easy to do, provided you have the tool to do it (a
> pressure gauge with writer, to be inserted in the place of the spark
plug).
> A compression problem could lead to those symptoms, but I would be very
> disappointed if an engine with such a low mileage could experience this
> problem.
>
> --
> Best regards.
> Giovanni Tarantino
> Bevaix (NE)
> Switzerland
> 1997 Audi A4 2.8 Q 223,000 km (137,000 miles)
> 1997 BMW 535i 221,000 km (134,000 miles)
>
>

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 18:58:56 GMT, "G" > wrote:

>hi there. im really starting to grasp at straws here with my car. there is a
>pretty considerable lack of power while driving it. its a 1997 A4 1.8t with
>119000km on it.
>
>i took it in to a turbo specialist (that i was told to go to by my warranty
>company - and thats another story) and he said the turbo is fine. i doubt
>theres a problem with the cat, its got a new air filter and new spark plugs.
>
>what i wanted to know - because i am really new to all this stuff - is will
>a compression test be easy to be done on a 1.8T engine? or do i need a
>specialist to do it? on a sidenote - the car is starting to leak oil - and
>they are in the process of finding out from where.
>
>also - does anyone know if a compression problem could lead to the kind of
>power loss im talkin bout?

Sure. Often that's accompanied by blue smoke (ie rings or bore damage), but if
you've siamesed the head gasket or fried the exhaust valves you might not see
any exhaust plume but you'd be losing power.

Go to a pro who has a leak-down test rig, rather than try to diagnose a
potential problem with a simple screw-in compression gauge. The former can
tell you a lot more about what might be wrong.

If the lump is healthy, you should have someone go through the ECU looking for
potential problems. A VAG tool or VAG-COM, etc, can tell you a lot about the
health of all the plumbing bits (eg: MAF sensor adaptation at +21% when it
should be within +/-4% of nominal).

And don't dismiss an imploded cat without at least a cursory inspection...

/daytripper
'00 s4 6spd

in reference to my initial post - thanx for the great advice guys.

i was thinking of getting a second opinion on my turbo in my car. i am
located in toronto, canada.
does anyone know of a good mechanic who specialises in turbos? the one i go
to is very nice but i feel the newer cars he might not be the best at. also
i need a second opinion since my warranty company is trying to get out of
writing a check for 1500$ to replace my current turbo k03.

thanx again - oh its a b5 a4 1.8t


"G" > wrote in message
s.com...
> hi there. im really starting to grasp at straws here with my car. there is
a
> pretty considerable lack of power while driving it. its a 1997 A4 1.8t
with
> 119000km on it.
>
> i took it in to a turbo specialist (that i was told to go to by my
warranty
> company - and thats another story) and he said the turbo is fine. i doubt
> theres a problem with the cat, its got a new air filter and new spark
plugs.
>
> what i wanted to know - because i am really new to all this stuff - is
will
> a compression test be easy to be done on a 1.8T engine? or do i need a
> specialist to do it? on a sidenote - the car is starting to leak oil - and
> they are in the process of finding out from where.
>
> also - does anyone know if a compression problem could lead to the kind of
> power loss im talkin bout?
>
>

Hey Mr. DJ.....
Post your question to the w-t_audifans group on Yahoo - that's the West
Toronto Audifans group, there's quite a few folks there with their own fave
mechanics they can direct you to.
Compression tests are not hard to do, but make sure you start with a fully
charged battery and a warm car and ground the removed plug to avoid ignition
damage. The test will tell you if there's a pressure leak in the cylinder -
whether through the valves, around the rings or a blown head gasket. A
leakdown test is a good thing to do in conjunction with the comp. test - it
helps to narrow down the problem (if there is one). HOWEVER - the
compression test will not tell you how much the turbo is compressing the air
into the engine - the turbo does very little, if anything (maybe even
somewhat of a hinderance), as the engine is being turned over.
Have you had the codes pulled from the ECU? what do they say is wrong?
Do you have a K&N filter in there? If so, chances are your MAF sensor is
burned.
Was the car equipped with the oft-malfunctioning coil packs? - That might be
covered by a recall.
Why do you think the turbo is blown? Is it noisy? Does it have lots of
play in the bearings? Is there metal filings in the cat from the turbine
vanes grinding against the housing? Is the turbo siezed, or the shaft
busted?
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"Mr DJ" > wrote in message
s.com...
> in reference to my initial post - thanx for the great advice guys.
>
> i was thinking of getting a second opinion on my turbo in my car. i am
> located in toronto, canada.
> does anyone know of a good mechanic who specialises in turbos? the one i
go
> to is very nice but i feel the newer cars he might not be the best at.
also
> i need a second opinion since my warranty company is trying to get out of
> writing a check for 1500$ to replace my current turbo k03.
>
> thanx again - oh its a b5 a4 1.8t
>
>
> "G" > wrote in message
> s.com...
> > hi there. im really starting to grasp at straws here with my car. there
is
> a
> > pretty considerable lack of power while driving it. its a 1997 A4 1.8t
> with
> > 119000km on it.
> >
> > i took it in to a turbo specialist (that i was told to go to by my
> warranty
> > company - and thats another story) and he said the turbo is fine. i
doubt
> > theres a problem with the cat, its got a new air filter and new spark
> plugs.
> >
> > what i wanted to know - because i am really new to all this stuff - is
> will
> > a compression test be easy to be done on a 1.8T engine? or do i need a
> > specialist to do it? on a sidenote - the car is starting to leak oil -
and
> > they are in the process of finding out from where.
> >
> > also - does anyone know if a compression problem could lead to the kind
of
> > power loss im talkin bout?
> >
> >
>
>