87 cyl. 3 low compression?

[Funnyman141]

Ok I did a compression check on the lil ranger today and they are
Cyl. 1- 185 psi
Cyl. 2- 184 psi
Cyl. 3- 60 psi
Cyl. 4- 184 psi

I decided to spray some oil in cyl. 3 to see if it was bad rings it didn't move so it looks like I'm going after a valvetrain problem.
Dad told me about getting it on T.D.C. and hooking the compressor up to it to see which valve is leaking, Well it's the intake valve. Dad is thinking that the valve could be stuck or the spring broke, meanwhile grandpa said that it could also be the head itself or it needs the seating area of the valve to be polished up.

Is there anything else that could be causing this?
if not, how hard is it taking the head off of a MFI 2.3L?

thanks for looking.

 

[Funnyman141]

21 views and no posts?

It would be nice to know how hard it would be to take take the head off or if it could be anything else wrong in the valvetrain.

 

[martin]

OK, you want a reply? here goes. When you did the test did you have piston 3 on the compression stroke? Either way it sounds like the head will have to come off. Is it difficult to remove and replace the head on that motor, no. The problem might be a valve (if the heads of you might as well do a valve job anyway). It might be just a head gasket (you'll be freplacing it anyway).
It might be a cracked head (have it tested before you put it back on). Hope that's of some help and please post what you find, we'll all be sitting here in eager anticipation of what you find.

 

[steve63]

the head comes off pretty easy,intake valves dont usually burn,so it could be head gasket,bent valve,seat problems,valve spring issues.

 

[BogusSVO]

do you have a valve tic? if so you may have a bad intake cam lobe that is not oping the valve far enough to allow a full charge in, and that will also give a low compression reading.

if that is the case find a later model ranger roller cam w/followers and install that.

just pop the VC off and take a look at the cam lobes before you pull the head.

 

[Funnyman141]

ok autozone just really pissed me off today, I ordered vc gasket set, rocker arm, valve spring, and intake valve the 26th I just got a call today that the warehouse doesn't have the valve or valve spring and they aren't sure when one is going to get in otherwise everything else is sitting there. so I've been waiting a lil over a week going in every couple of days to see if my parts are in.
I head over to O'reilly's they can get the valve and spring in by Wednesday.

gotta love waiting for parts.

 

[Funnyman141]

well today I managed to get the valve cover off and everything looks good which stinks. I set the 3rd piston back on the compression stroke and checked it again and it seems to leak air through both valves, intake leaks the most the exhaust leaks just a little bit. So I'm looking at two bad valves or a cracked head and damn the 12 point bolts they use to hold the heads on.

 

[Funnyman141]

well I couldn't get the head off so I put it back together and now she leaks even worse from the valvecover and she developed a valve tick pretty bad.
man today just isn't my day is it?