I'm pretty sure my '03 burned a valve. Truck started vibrating just a little at idle, and then on my way home the CEL came on.


Compression test shows very low compression in cylinder 3, so my hunch is a bad/burned valve or some other valvetrain issue.


My mechanic is going to pull the head and take a look....anything else I should have done/have him check while it's off?


The engine was rebuilt ~20k miles ago and I had the intake manifold gasket replaced (was leaking) about 100 miles ago....it just seems like dumb bad luck that this happened now.

 

I'd do the compression test again, this time adding a teaspoon of oil into the cylinder. If the results improve, then its likely the rings. If not, valves.

 

I had considered that too. Either way, we have to pull the heads, right?

 

Well you want to do the compression test with the heads on

 

You don't say....

 

Just making sure we're on the same page Yeah the heads will need to come off, after you figure out whether its the valve or piston rings.

What are the engine codes? are you burning oil?


Speaking of...I need to do a compression test myself...

 

Engine code was just for a misfire...nothing else. No overheating, no burning oil.

 

Borescope inserted through spark plug hole to verify?

 

If you need a place to work on it, consider renting a self storage area large enough to fit the truck in, and an overhead light. You can remove the bulb and plug in an outlet adapter and plug in Halogen lights that will give off plenty of heat to work even in the coldest winter.

Good luck.

 

Think ELVerda is long gone, checked his activity and he hasn't been heard from since about a month after this post/topic.