soumban

First the background - I have been losing coolant on my 96 Lude Si- something like a quart every 1000 miles. I did not see coolant lying on the ground - so decided it has to be :

1. The Head gasket
2. The Heater core

So, to be sure, I did a compression test today. The results were :-

200 in the 1st , 210 in the 2nd , 210 in the 3rd and 190 in the fourth. ( I have a H23 ). The results seemed good but, while doing the test, I had found

1. Some oil on the spark plug threads - a very small amount.
2. After doing the test for cylinder 4, on releasing the pressure, a white fluid
( which I assume was coolant ) squirted out of the release valve of the pressure tester.

Any ideas on what might the problem be ? How can I find out whether I have a gasket leak for sure on the 4th cylinder ? Also, if there is a leak, why was there such good compression ?

I am a noob, and do not know much about engines. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Duston

If there is coolant leaking into your cylinder from a blown head gasket then your oil should look real milky when shine a light into the valve cover. You might even see signs of oil in your radiator.

If you heater core is leaking I think you would find that it leaks on the inside of your car under the dash. The inside of you car would have a lovely sweet smell too.

I wouldn't worry about 1 quart every 1000 miles unless you see other problems.

If you fill the coolant to the top of the catch can then your going to loose fluid when your motor gets hot. I would chalk it up to evaporation.

Also when you compress air you get some water thats probably what came out of the compression tester.

Good luck.

soumban

Actually I have been checking the oil. It is NOT milky - but the coolant was somewhat darker - so I did a coolant flush. The color is OK so far.

Also, I DO get a sweet coolant smell on the inside of my car sometime - but could not find any leak in the dash.

I also tried to look at the exhaust fumes - but it was cold and rainy in my town - so the white exhaust was mostly due to the water vapour.

The car runs real smooth though ..... so I guess I am just being paranoid.

Thanks for your help. .