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Hey guys, I was having trouble with what was believed to be sticking valves. I finally got a compression gauge on this old 22nd series. All ranged from 60psi to 90, except for my 3rd and 4th Cylinder, which showed "0" compression 😖. I'm somewhat in denial about a blown head gasket, oil and water both look fine. And smoke is non existent. My real question is, wouldn't a blown head gasket show some results or movement on a compression gauge? It stayed absolute 0 during cranks. I am pulling off the valve covers tomorrow to confirm, but in your guys' experience does this sound more like a blown head gasket? I would also like to add, the morning this problem started, I had put a quart of oil, and filled the gas tank. Any other ways to check and confirm? Last thing... The compression seemed lower towards the front of the block and increased from the 5th cylinder on... I hope this info is sufficient. Thanks everyone

Valves almost never spontaneously stick on cars that are in service. It is after they just are awakened from storage or the morning after they have some really ancient stinky gas run through them which gums up the intakes.

You almost certainly have a blown head gasket. You can change it in less time than watching a couple episodes of Game of Thrones. Resist the temptation to have the head milled unless it is warped left to right or severely pitted. Front to back is a virtual non issue as one of those heads will deflect .002 in the middle with thumb pressure.

The compression readings are quite low and suggests its time for a ring job, but if you are satisfied with how the car ran before, then just slap a head gasket on it.

You could always do a cylinder leak down test. I prefer to do both a compression and leak down when diagnosing a problem. If it were a valve once you put pressure to the cylinder you would hear a hissing noise from the tail pipe if it were the exhaust valve or hissing through the carb for an intake valve. If rings were the issue the air pressure and noise would come out the dipstick tube or filler tube. I would have to agree with Ross. It sounds like a head gasket.

James

Cyl leak down will do more to confirm the diagnosis, but I would also say this is textbook headgasket. It is really not hard to change. Drain coolant from Radiator and block, and clean the mating surfaces before reassembly.

Really clean the mating surfaces before assembly. Here's my horror story...I used a copper head gasket and I have never ever used any type of sealant on any head gasket I've ever installed. I cleaned up the valves, installed new rings and dropped on the head. I filled the radiator and then couldn't get to the car to start it for a week. (You know where this is going) I went back to start the car and it was locked up tight. I found water stains leaking from around the new head gasket. I pulled the head (again) and discovered water in the cylinders. After a through cleaning and de-rusting the cylinders (nothing in the oil thank goodness) I did some research. It turns out that when you install a copper gasket on the engine it is a requirement that sealer is used to eliminate the water leak potential. After gluing down the new gasket I still have not fixed my non start problem...be careful and install the gasket properly. Also, check the head for trueness before installing. Best of luck. I still am beating on my engine after 5 months of not getting this thing to go.
I'm going to start looking for a running 288 or 327 to get this car back on the road...I'm tired of tinkering. Spark, yes. Timing, yes. Compression, yes. Gas yes....I'm stumped.

With the head off you're going to want to examine for damage resulting from coolant loss into the cylinders. Check cylinder walls for rust and especially if anti-freeze was in use, check the piston heads for corrosion. Permanent anti-freeze actually corroding thru the head of a piston is not unknown. You might also think about checking the condition of the valves and seats; depending on the prior rebuild and how the engine was used, 40,000 miles could be approaching the time for a valve grind.

Do the EASY things FIRST!!!

At this point u really don't know (or never mentioned) valve lash. So one or more of the valves maybe running reall tite and all u need is a valve adjustment.

Altho pulling the valve cover on a flat engine is often almost as difficult as pulling a cylinder head there is no need to pull the head if valves are running tite and it only needs valve adjustment.

If u do pull the head i will echo Ross's warning above to NOT mill the head unless there is conspicuous problems.


The Leak Down Compression test procedures are alot of much to do about nothing. The standard compression test is as good as it gets for diagnosis.

There is another procedure to blow air or smoke thru the spark plug hole then to look or listen at the carb or tail pipe for evidence of the smoke or rushing air. I won't detail it at this time. But that will give more evidenceof exactly what the problem is BEFORE risking any unnecessary disassembly of the engine.