• The compression test measures the amount of pressure that is

formed by the piston moving up on its compression stroke.

• The amount of pressure produced by the piston depends on:-
– The amount of air present in the cylinder
– The compression ratio of the cylinder
– How well the cylinder is sealed
 When the piston moves upward, the volume of the cylinder is
reduced, this increases the pressure of the air contained in the
cylinder.

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• The expected cylinder pressure of a given engine is
given in the engine specification.
• But if the specification is not available we use the
following formula to determine the amount of pressure
expected from the cylinder during the compression
stroke.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 = 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒎 × 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐 + 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒎 + 𝟏𝟎 𝑷𝒔𝒊

• To measure the compression pressure in a

cylinder, a compression tester is used.
• The tester is inserted into the spark plug hole of
the cylinder for gasoline engine (into glow plug
hole of the cylinder for diesel engine) the pressure
of that cylinder is registered on the gauge of the
tester.
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 Example
• For an engine compression ratio of 7, calculate the
expected compression pressure of the engine.

Solution

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 × 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 + 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 + 10 𝑃𝑠𝑖

= 14.6 psi X 7 + 14.6 psi + 10 psi
= 126.8 psi

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• If the gauge does not increase with each compression stroke, this
indicates that the valves of the cylinder are sticking.
• Sticking valves are caused by carbon or gum deposits built on the
stem of the valves, which cause them to resist closing or
opening.
• If one or more cylinders are low and the others normal, this un
evenness indicates that the compression losses in that engine
will cause it to run roughly
• low compression readings indicate that
 valves are not sealing because they are burned or the valve
stems are bent,
 the piston rings are worn
 the head gasket is leaking.
• If the readings of two cylinders that are located next to each
other in the engine are low, it indicates that the head gasket is
leaking.
• Usually, the area between cylinders is small and the head gasket
is responsible for the separation of the cylinders.
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• If all cylinder have about similar readings that are low, the
engine is simply worn evenly, due to general wear of the
 piston rings
 cylinder bores and
 valves.
 The engine will also in most causes be burning oil & issuing
clouds of blue smoke from the exhaust.
• In cases like this where only one or two cylinders are affected
the reason is generally a mechanical fault, probably one
(or more) of the following.
 Incorrect valve clearances

 Weak or broken valve spring

 Poor valve seating

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 Burnt or defective valve
Cylinder head gasket leaking
Piston ring(s) broken, worn or sticking
Worn or scored cylinder bores

Compression testers are available as a threaded adaptor which screws

into the spark plug hole/glow plug hole/ and others with a conical rubber
bung, which simply pushes into the hole.
In general, the readings from all cylinders should be with in 85% of the
manufacturers specified figure &, in addition should be with in 10% of
each other.

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 Procedure to measure the compression pressure in a cylinder
1. Before testing the engine should be warmed to normal
operating temperature
2. Remove all the spark plugs or glow plug
3. Lock the throttle and choke valves in a wide open position.
(doing this will allow a maximum flow of air to enter the
engine) Caution:
– Disable the ignition system by disconnecting the battery
lead to the coil and disconnect fuel solenoid in the
carburetor for gasoline engine.
– Disable the fuel injection system to prevent the squirting of
fuel into the cylinder for diesel engine (disconnect fuel cut
off solenoid wire from injection pump).
4. Place the compression tester in the spark plug or glow plug of
one cylinder and crank the engine up to four complete
compression strokes. (At each compression stroke you will
notice that the needle of the gauge jumps to a higher reading,
each compression makes a puffing sound )
5. Do a compression test for each of the cylinders and record
final reading of each cylinder.
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• The reading of the 4th compression stroke is the reading that
you compare to the specification and to the other cylinders.
• Any reading less than 85% of the specification or too low.
– If the gauge does not increase with each stroke, this
indicates the valve of that cylinder is sticking.
Sticking valves are caused by carbon or gum deposits
built on the stem of the valves.
– If the reading of one or more cylinders are below
specification, there is a problem in:
• The valves (intake or exhaust)
• The piston rings
• The head gasket
• Some times the readings:
– are similar but low, this indicates the engine simply
worn unevenly.
– If one or more cylinders are low and the others normal, this
unevenness due to the compression losses in that cylinder,
which brings rough run of the engine.
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• To identify the cause of low compression, two further steps can
be taken:
1st By looking at our readings
• If the readings of the two cylinders that are located next to each
other in the engine are low, this indicates that the head gasket
is leaking due to defective head gasket.
2nd By squirting a small amount of oil into a cylinder which has
low compression.
• To determine the cause for low reading, squirt a small amount
of oil into a cylinder with low compression and retest this
cylinder with the compression tester:
– If the reading increased over the original reading, this
indicates for bad piston rings.
– If the reading had remained the same, the cause of low
reading may be the valves.
• The oil that was put into the cylinder temporary seal the piston
rings to the cylinder walls, causing an increase in the reading.
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• It measures how well the cylinder is sealed when
the valves are closed.
• It also identifies the parts that are worn or
defective, that cause leakage, this test uses a
cylinder leakage tester, and it does the same thing
as compression tester, but it does in different way.
• That is during the leakage test, the engine does not
have been cranked.
• Instead of measuring the air pressure formed on
the compression stroke the leakage tester applies
air in to the cylinder and measures the amount of
air that leaks out the cylinder through:
– Passing the valves
– Passing the piston rings
– Passing the head gaskets
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• This test should be taken if both valves are closed.
– The cylinder leakage tester can precisely locate the points of
leakage, this points of leakage also points of compression
losses.
– The cylinder leakage tester compares the amount of air
pressure applied by the tester to the cylinder to the amount that
the cylinder is able to hold or contain.
– An out side air supply (air compressor) is needed to use this
tester.
• If the air supply has 100 psi pressure and the cylinder is able to
hold 80 psi, therefore the cylinder allows 20 psi or 20% of the
air to escape. The escaping air can be felt or heard from:
– Carburetor or throttle body if it is escaping past the intake valve
– Tail pipe or exhaust pipe if it is escaping past the exhaust valve
– Oil filler tube if it is escaping past the piston rings
– Radiator if it is escaping past the head gasket or a cracked
cylinder head or block.
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1. Warm up the engine
2. Remove all the spark plugs, remove the air cleaner assembly,
oil filler cap or dipstick, and radiator cap and lock the throttle
to a fully wide open position, check the fluid in the radiator
and fill it to the proper level.
3. Bring the engine to TDC of compression stoke, Continue to
rotate the engine until the timing marks on the crankshaft
align at TDC.
4. Install a hose that threads into the spark plug hole
5. Now connect the shop air supply to the tester and calibrate the
tester,
6. Connect the tester to the cylinder, so the gauge on the tester
should show reading. This reading indicates the amount of air
that is leaking out of the cylinder.
7. To determine where is the leakage listen at the radiator, oil
filler, carburetor, and tailpipe for the escaping air
• Test the other cylinders in the same way.
• If high amount of leakage are occurred, disconnect the air
supply and attempt to find TDC again to retest.
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Advantage of cylinder leakage test over
compression test
– It allows for precise identification of the
problem area.
– The reading does not influenced by carbon
deposit (build up).
Disadvantage of cylinder leakage test
– Requires more time to conduct the test.

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