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Well this is it. An arizona bus till 1989 ( 59000 miles) then to minnesota till 95' and now only 61000 miles! The motor is toast I think. Just the battery box is rusty. Needs upholstery. oh well. THe paint sure cleaned up though!

Just a little rubbing, isnt that all it usually all it takes..........

Home improvement in need of!

Nice Westy ! What are those big brackets/racks on the front?

I think they were for batteries. They have to go though! I love it but just found out 3 of 4 cylinders are at about 30 psi and one is at 118#. Sounds expensive. Kind of at a crossroad.

That engine is toast - time for a rebuild or a replacement motor. Is there wiring running to the brackets on the front? They may simply be for gas cans, though I'd not want those as a front bumper!

Stray

Or maybe propane bottles ! Really good for rear ending someone.

Well going to try to loosen the rocker arms and tap the valves to see if they are tight or hanging up. I talked to a motor guy and he said that if it wouldnt even hardly run the compression could be 60 psi. His feeling was that it didnt keep running till it got down to 30 on 3. Maybe rust or valve problem. updated will come

If the engine hadn't been recent run and at operating temperature when you did the compression test then the results are pretty meaningless. Once you get it running and then do the test on a hot engine you may well have 120 all around.

Hey wild thing I know what you mean. I was hoping for like 110 +/- cold. But who knows what I really have. That last tap on the valves recommendation is some hope anyway. 120 across the board would be awesome. Do you know what fails on these? Would it be head gaskets? Is it just wear? what about overheating?

beetle motors wont idle past 90 psi, i think a bus will makeit down to the 70s range before crapping out, but those are all warm pressures

Fuser thats great reference material!

On a long sitting engine the rings may well be stuck in the grooves and there could easily be rust on the cylinder walls. The valves may also not shut fully due to carbon having fallen out of the intake ports and getting stuck between the valve and the seat. This is one of the first things I learned about Type 4 engines, never believe the compression readings unless the engine has been fired and run.

Squirt some oil into the cylinders before firing her and mix 2 cycle oil 50:1 with the first tank of gas to help lubricate the cylinder walls and free the rings.

Thanks wild, I am going to try everything I can in that order. I am going to retry the test then oil then tap the valves then retest. Im prayin that is something to do with sitting other than rust!

yeah I always try and fog the cyls thru the spark plug hole with some liquid wrench, pb blaster, mysetery oil, whatever you have on hand, then a few hand turns, some oil down the intake, then crank it till it sounds happy, then go for the big ole fire. I am a bit overly cautious if you can't tell. I also do first crank over with no spark plugs so there are no loads on the cyilnders tiill everything is a bit lubed up.