hi my name is charles when i start my car it will start up really crappy and then the rpms drop to 0 but my engine is still turning over what would cause this .. would that cause a compression test to read low psi .. like between 20 and 60psi for my number 2 rotor and 95psi for my number 1 rotor? what can be my problem

also .. what does this mean i need to replace?

thanks for all your help i searched the forum and couldnt find anything related

 

did you have a full battery charge? if you do the compression test and the engine turns over really slow due to low batt charge, it will give you low compression numbers.

but if thats not the case and you just have low compression, its rebuild time.

what are the specs on the car? turbo? n/a? s4? s5? give more information and you will get more replies from people here.

 

it is a 1989 convertable .. non turbo .. i have put a spark tester on the plugs and they are all getting spark .. the battery has a good charge...
the front rotor is showing 95psi and the rear rotor(closest to firewall) is showing 12psi

 

sounds like your rear rotor went

 

what kind of test can i run to try to narrow down the problem so i dont end up having to buy the WHOLE engine rebuild kit. i have ran a spark test and compression test

thak you for your time all info is appriciated

 

Take out the leading plug and pour some ATF in the rear rotor housing. Pull the EGI fuse and crank it around. Get the ATF worked it. Then check compression again. You might want to let it sit a while after putting the ATF in.

It really sounds like your have a cracked or missing Apex seal on your rear rotor. If teh apex seal cracked, you might be able to rebuild w/ the existing rotor and housing. If you threw it, the housing is probably trashed along with the rotor.

That means you're gonna have to rebuild it or find a used engine to swap in. READ THE FAQ AND SEARCH.

 

does anyone know ANY place besides craigslist and ebay to get a non turbo series 5 engine that runs ... not remanufactured .. just used

 

You could look at this sites for sale section.

Also something I did was take a mirror and a flashlight, angle the mirror so you can look directly into the leading spark plug hole. Use the flashlight to look at the apex seals as you turn the motor over by hand. If your lucky you can see if one is stuck or missing.