Re: KPack's 1954 Panama

Posted by kevinpackard On 2020/9/16 13:22:35

I plan on doing another compression test tonight when I get home to see what 3 and 4 show. My assumption is that they will show zero or very low. If so I'll see if I can figure out a leak-down test and see where it's going. I guess it's possible that I have a blown head gasket, but I don't think that would explain the loud tapping.

I pulled the cap and rotor when my friend and I were diagnosing on Monday. Didn't see any cracks in the cap, but it's not a new one. I don't know that it's an electrical issue because I confirmed that the plugs on 3 and 4 are indeed working.

Depending on what the new compression test shows me, I plan on getting the car back on my neighbor's lift and pulling the valve covers. He suggested running some Marvel Mystery Oil in the crankcase (drain a quart, add a quart of MMO) and run it up to operating temp and let it cool back down. Warm it up again a few times and see what happens. In his experience he's been able to loosen up stuck valves this way. Not sure how comfortable I am letting it warm up to operating temp with the loud tapping I'm hearing, plus I don't know that I trust my dash gauge.

-Kevin