Peugeot 306 head gasket

[BLACKRIDER]

hI CAN YOU HELP
MY SON HAS A PHASE 2 PEUGEOT 306 1.4 WHICH HE BOUGHT OFF E BAY??
iT HAS POOR COMPRESION ON PISTON 3 AND DOESNT APPEAR TO BE FIRING ON PISTON 4 DUE TO COMPESSION???
hAVING BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD WITH A SAXO i KNOW ITS QUITE EXPENSIVE TO PRESSURE TEST SKIM AND REFURBISH HEADS, AND MAY BE JUST AS COST EFFECTIVE TO SWAP THE ENGINE OVER
QUESTION IS::
what is the chances of the problem being caused by the linners dropping and how can you tell, before youve gone to the expence of head skimming
How can you tell by sight if a valve is sticking, without pressure testing first
Whats the torque on head bolts supposed to be
What else should i look for?? what else can it be
there doesnt appear to be oil in water or water in oil
or should i just be done with it and swap the engine over

Please advise
Dale

[peterb]

Ask a mechanic?

[sleepyhead]

memtest...always run mem...oh wait....

Move the thread into "Pitstop" where it belongs?

[noveltylamp]

Could also be the piston rings, you need to get the head off and look. Have you tried a wet compression test? Drop a teaspoon of oil down the cylinders and do the compression test again, if compression improves then it's the rings. Thought liners only moved due to excess heat?
If you are needing to ask questions like what torque the head bolts should be at then you obviously need a manual or the help of the specialist 306 forum - search for "pug306" in google and join up. Swapping the engine is economically viable if you can get a replacement good engine and hire/borrow a crane cheaper than it would cost to re-build the current engine so i'd get quotes first, don't forget to factor in the value of your own time! The same job could take you 20 hours that'd take a mechanic familiar with the car and a workshop at their disposal 6, so might be worth putting in the overtime at work to pay for the mechanic!

[BLACKRIDER]

Not to sure what a MEM test is
I just want to know what the likely hood is of the liners having dropped and how you tell before wasting my time on refurbing and skimmimng the head.
cheers

[BLACKRIDER]

not sure what you mean by folding
just need to know if theres a common fault on these engines with piston liners dropping or the chances of it just being the head gaskett, or what to look for when ive got the head off before i waste my money on head refurb
cheers

[BLACKRIDER]

Cheers i`ll try that first at least that will rule out the rings,
I have swapped heads and engines in the past, so no problems there just havent got the torque ratings for the bolts on this one.. and as my son bought it with this problem,,, im just a bit suspicious that it could be something other than the obvious head gaskett...i would like to think its a head off skim and replace... happy days but need to know how you check the liner heights etc before i waste my sons money
only to find its not solved the problem
these youngsters can pull some real sad faces if they aint got their wheels

[GavinS]

[posted in error]

[[GSV]Trig]

Probably a dead gasket, common on these things...

[Zak33]

tbh, if the car was fairly cheap, I'd just buy another car!

Car's are sooo cheap as to be ridiculous....ebay the dead one and you'll get a oner from someone who would be able to fix it easily.

[BLACKRIDER]

aINT SeeN it MATey

[BLACKRIDER]

Yep you may be right,
could be another pug towed away for bits, unless the weather picks up of course