We always know if the state of our vehicle is correct, or if it would withstand a long trip or simply the use that we give it on a daily basis. In addition to doing a basic inspection of the vehicle and carrying out the recommended services according to the kilometers it counts, we can check the condition of the engine in a very simple way on our own.
What do you need to measure the compression of the car engine?
- Tools
- Pressure gauge
Instructions for measuring car engine compression
- First of all we must look for the tool that we are going to need to do this procedure. For this we will use a manometer and thus be able to measure the compression. We can find the pressure gauge in all those stores that specialize in selling vehicle accessories, or also in an online internet store.
- What we will do next is start the car and let the engine warm up. In this way we will let it take the usual temperature. It is important to drive the vehicle a few times as performing this procedure with a cold engine can cause damage.
- Once we have stopped and turned off the car we must disconnect the high voltage cables that are in the spark plugs. We must look at this procedure very carefully, because later we will have to connect them in the same position. If you don’t want to make a mistake, you can take a picture of the position of the spark plugs and the high voltage cables, so if you forget you can resort to it without problems.
- Once the previous step has been carried out, we must unscrew a spark plug and place the tip of the manometer in the hole in the cylinder head where the spark plug is inserted. It is very important that the mouth of the manometer cover the hole
- Next we will have to ask another person to start the vehicle’s engine and accelerate for approximately 5 seconds, so we can measure the engine compression of this spark plug. Then we will turn off the engine and repeat this same procedure with each of the spark plugs in our vehicle.
- All spark plugs must have the same pressure and therefore must match the pressure indicated by the manufacturer. If your car has a gasoline engine, the difference that must exist between the cylinders can be up to 5 bar.
- In case you do not know the data that the manufacturer indicates regarding the compression of your vehicle’s engine, you can base yourself on the compression ratio of the engine and add those numbers. So in a 14:1 compression ratio, you should add 14+1 which gives you 15. That should be the value of the pressure that appears on the
Tips for measuring car engine compression
In the event that your vehicle’s engine has compression problems, it will be necessary for you to take it to be checked in order to determine what the fault is and for the mechanic to solve it.
