Possible engine/compression issues.

[chilli_dub]

First time poster here so go easy on me!

My car has lacked a sense of urgency for some time now. I maintain the car myself, its serviced probably more often than most, oil is changed every 5k miles etc. The car is showing no fault codes whatsoever, all breather hoses are clean and leak free etc. It has days where it goes like stink and other times where its like someones dropped a moped engine in there.

The car was compression tested about 6 months ago and the following readings were:

Cyl1-150 Cyl2-158 Cyl3-150 Cyl4-160 

Now i know these are quite low, although they dont vary all that much between the cylinders. Is it worth me running the compression test myself? This was performed at a local garage and the car wasnt fully warmed up, MFA oil temp of about 60. He didnt seem to crank the engine for very long either. How accurate could these be? If I run the test myself and they are similar should i be looking at an engine overhaul or should i just live with the low compression?

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Wayne]

To be honest those figures are not far apart, try and get a 2nd garage to look at it, you need to do it on a warm engine and crank it over for 10secs.

However if your saying sometimes it goes better than other days then that is not a compression issue.

[chilli_dub]

Thanks for the input. Yeah the compression figures are fairly close which is a plus point, but they are all on the low side. I thought they should be atleast 170psi ? I also noticed on the last spark plug change that cylinder no4 was running a lot warmer than all the rest, with scorch marks on the plug body (white enamel) part. What could be the cause for one cylinder running warmer than the rest?

Thanks, Dave.

[chilli_dub]

Anybody?

[harlemex]

incorrectly gapped plug perhaps. I agree with wayned, its not a compression issue. My golf has days when it runs flat as a turd. Try the more expensive unleaded petrol. Makes a good difference with mine. I put it in when im flush.