Even though the automotive market is rapidly changing as to whats available for purchase, all of the manufactures still have active websites and ‘09-’10 model years are both available. Enjoy this article and try out all of the web links for each of the manufactures.

Retro Flashback

‘09 Dodge Challenger R/T

This vehicle is available with a 5.7 liter V8 Hemi engine rated at 372 hp. Automatic or 6spd manual transmissions are available in the R/T and SR/T only, the base model Challenger only comes with a V6 and automatic transmission. Starting price for the R/T is $29,995.

‘09 Dodge Challenger SR/T8

You can step it up a notch and go with the 6.1 liter V8 Hemi rated at 425hp in the SR/T8 for about $39,995.

For more information about the Dodge Challenger, refer to this Dodge Challenger website to create your own interactive computer version with a variety of colors and options. You can also use the 360 degree view for a chance to check out the interior and exterior from all angles.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro

(possible fall of ‘09 release)
Depending on which version you want (RS, LS, or SS) the options are endless. The SS comes with a 6.2 liter/422 hp engine. Transmissions even vary from model to model.

There are 2 different 6spd. manual transmissions available, each with a different gearing. The price ranges from base model to SS model vary from $22,995 to $37,995.

Here’s the cool web link for Chevy Camaro to check out the options that are available.

‘09 Ford Mustang

Mustangs come in a variety of styles. Base models start around $21,000, GT models go for $30,000 and the Shelby GT model for $81,000. The best of the 3 is the Shelby GT500.

The Shelby GT500 offers a 5.4 liter supercharged V8 engine pushing 540 hp. This vehicle has a tuned suspension for precision handling of this Mustang.

For a chance to see all of the available options, check out this interactive Mustang website.

‘09 Jeep Wrangler

The 2009 Jeep has the same old look but with modern upgrades.

With the comfort and convenience of a smooth riding car, the Wrangler is a 4 wheel drive with a short wheel base and light weight in comparison to other vehicles in it’s class. It has a smoother running and more fuel efficient engine than in past years.

Starting at $21,200 and up, you can have your own 2009 Jeep Wrangler.

Check out the variety of 2009 Wrangler Unlimited vehicles available. Visit this Jeep website and build your own Jeep with a variety of options.

‘09 Toyota FJ Cruiser

Starting at $23,000, here’s the 2009 FJ Cruiser that has plenty if room and is a great factory off road vehicle. Check out this Toyota website for a chance to build your own plus watch the Toyota trail teams off road videos and see photos from the Las Vegas customization show.

‘09 Ford Flex

The 2009 Ford Flex is a great tour vehicle. Starting at $28,500 you can have your own. Supplied with options such as individual moon roofs for each seat, headrest DVD players, plus plenty of leg room for stretching on that long trips this roomy 7 passenger vehicle has as all the bells and whistles for a road trip, .

Stow away second and third row seating is available for room to haul extra stuff. Take the Ford interactive tour with the Ford Flex.

$ Highend Sports Cars $

‘09 Chevrolet Corvette

Here’s the Supercharged 6.2 liter V8/LS9 Corvette with an estimated 638 horsepower.

For those of you who may not be affected by sticker shock, for a measly $115,000 this could be yours.

‘09 Nissan GT-R

For around $77,000 you can own this Nissan GT-R with a twin turbo V6 and a 6 speed manual transmission.

Key features for performance and handling are the all wheel drive and 430 horse power. This vehicle has a top speed rating of 193 mph.

Mid Priced Sports Cars

‘09 Mitsubishi Eclipse

The 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse is a great sports car and is affordable in comparison to other mid sized vehicles in it’s class.

In hard top or convertible this car is a great weekend get away waiting to happen. Just under $26,000 you can have the convertible Spyder.

With options like the 3.8 liter V6 that pushes 265 horsepower and a 6 speed manual transmission this is a true sports car that is enjoyable to say the least. Visit Mitsubishi to build and price your own Mitsubishi on their website.

Here’s a view of the eclipse interior.

2010 Dodge Demon

With a variety of small sports cars available from many of the manufactures here’s one that will become available in the fall of ‘09.

Whether it’s the Sunday drive or a short weekend get away there are many sporty vehicles to choose from depending on the options that lure you in. For me, it’s the small/lightweight vehicles with lots of horse power and a retractable roof. Is this a sign that I’m getting old?

Here’s a link for the most current stats and release date on the Dodge Demon using this consumer guide from how stuff works.

Mid & Full Size Trucks

‘09 Toyota Tacoma

For a mid size truck with an variety of options this is a great buy for around $20,000. Build your own at this Toyota website.

Standard, bonus cab, or double cab, you can fit the entire family comfortably. With the 4.0 liter V6 you can still have 26 mpg.

‘09 Dodge Ram

The Dodge Ram truck has been around long enough and has proven itself that this truck is in the top of it’s class in many ways. Check out the official Dodge Ram website for a build your own view of the ‘09 Ram with all the available options including a vehicle comparison to Chevrolet and Ford models trucks.

Available with either the 4.7 liter V-8 or the 5.7 liter Hemi engine you can be assured that the ‘09 Ram has enough power to pull any type of load.

‘09 Toyota Tundra

Check out the 2009 Toyota Tundra with regular, double, and extended crew cab trucks still available between $23,000 to $28,000 for starting prices with many other options available.

With a 5.7 liter V-8 and a 4X4 power train this vehicle has what is needed to get through those tough mid-west winters and ability to climb those rugged hills any time of the year.

Hybrid

‘09 Saturn Vue

Check out the 2009 Saturn Vue Hybrid and build your own from this website. For just a tick under $30,000 you can own this 4 door small family SUV that records 32 plus MPG and a 5 star crash test rating.

Never mind that you will be purchasing a vehicle with the most updated technology and help redirect the automotive industry toward a new avenue of eco-friendly vehicles that are the most fuel efficient of them all.

Handicap Accessible

Toyota has put together an assistance program for anyone who has a disability. Here’s a link to the Toyota Mobility Program for you to see Toyota’s involvement and how they can help retrofit a vehicle for you.

Here’s a link for handicap accessible seats as an option to be installed into any vehicle.

For anyone who might want to have an option of assisted seating for easier entry into your vehicle, here’s a couple of useful sources and links that may help. Here’s the manufacturing company for Bruno seats and accessories and mobility works, a company that sells a variety of handicap accessible vehicles.

Navigation Equipment

It seems any more that manufactures like to equip vehicles with current electronic. Remember the car phone? That short lived idea was replaced by the cell phone. Remember CD players, (still current) now it’s mp3, i-pod, and xm satellite radio.

Today it’s GPS and navigation systems. I understand how cool and convenient it is to have such an option like this for traveling, but once again I tend to over analyze and look at the cost of these items as an option and repair costs of these things when they break.

Yes you can buy and aftermarket GPS unit from Garmin , Tom Tom , or Magellan and use it in all of your vehicles. This will free up the dash board from such sophisticated electronic devices that manufactures are offering at high cost to you and give you a navigation system that can be more conveniently used.

All Wheel Drive & Sporty

For anyone who enjoys a comfortable feeling car along with performance, handling, and sheer enjoyment to drive with all wheel drive features then the Subaru car line has several vehicles for you.

‘09 Subaru Forester

The Forester is more of a family vehicle with plenty of room for travel. With power and performance for a quick get up and go the Forester still has the feel of a sporty all wheel drive vehicle.

‘09 WRX-STI

For more of a rally type race car that’s street legal here’s the WRX-STI. This car produces over 300hp from a 2.5 liter boxer engine and a 6 speed manual transmission that’s attached to an all wheel drive chassis.

The leather wrapped harness style seats will fit you like a glove when cornering this all wheel drive rally car.

There are plenty of cool thing to do with your Subaru, but the North American Subaru Owners Club hosts plenty of off road rally’s for you and your car. (Mostly modified cars) From dirt to snow or gravel to asphalt you can always find a rally race that includes the Subaru WRX.

Small & Sporty

‘09 Mini Cooper

Being small and very sporty allows you to drive this vehicle like its on rails. With options of the 118hp or the 172hp supercharged engine and a suspension to match, the acceleration and handling is what makes this car the most desirable features about the Mini.

These vehicles are very fun to drive, are affordable (around $18000-$22,000) and are capable of 30 plus miles per gallon.
Here’s Mini’s link for more information about their vehicles.

Smallest and Fuel Efficient

‘09 Smart car

If small vehicles and fuel economy is what your looking for, then here’s the car for you.

The Smart car is definitely one of, if not the smallest car on the road. Here are 2 Smart cars that were at the 2009 auto show with options of convertible or hard top.

With a 1 liter 70hp 3 cylinder engine put into a chassis that weighs just a tick over 1600 pounds, you can still have a top speed of 90 mph and a rated fuel range of 33-40 mpg. Small as it may seem they were designed with a surprisingly large amount of room, even kids still look small in this vehicle. Here’s a Smart car link for more information.

Family and Sporty

‘09 Honda Accord

Here’s a vehicle that has options from a 4 to 6 cylinder engine, automatic or manual transmission, and coupe or sedan options.

The Honda Accord has plenty of room for your family to enjoy traveling on a trip , but sporty enough with a 235hp. 3.5 liter V6 engine to keep you satisfied when accelerating in traffic. Here’s Honda’s link for an interactive way to build your own Accord.

‘09 Pontiac G8 GXP

Even though the end is near for the Pontiac car line, here’s a way to go out on top. If your a Pontiac nut like I am and want a vehicle that is a power house and a family sedan at the same time then this car is for you.

The 2009 G8 GXP has my favorite options. Pick one up with a 6 speed manual transmission and a 6.2 liter V8 engine that punches out an astounding 415 horses with matching torque (415) at 6000 RPM’s. Check out this Pontiac website that has a side by side comparison to the BMW 5 series, Nissan Maxima, and the Dodge Charger.

Hello to all of those who have linked to the Auto repair facts website. Thank you for your interest in the automotive subjects that I’ve been publishing and comments that I’ve received over the last year.

I’ve been extremely busy for the last 3 months and unable to publish any new material, but I can assure you that I have taken hundreds of photo’s for new articles to be published. There never seems to be a shortage of material to write about in the automotive world, just a shortage time.

Over the next few months I’ll be working hard to re-format, edit, and publish new material for Auto repair facts, so keep in touch and continue giving me feedback on things you would like to see. Thanks to all

What’s in Store

Visit the Indiana State fair grounds this Sunday March 29th between 8:00am and 3:00pm for the 2nd of 4 swap meets and car sales of the 2009 season offered by Mid America Promotions. Admission is $6 for adults and kids 12 and under are free. This is a great place to pick up a classic muscle car needing restoration or to search for that hard to find part for your everyday car.

Visit the Super Sunday Indy website to get a map of the pavilion and directions to the fairgrounds. If you have a vehicle or parts to sell, you can obtain a registration form and rent a space for any of the 3 remaining shows this season. Stay connected with Auto Repair Facts for more up coming events and enjoy this weekends show.

Getting Started

Visit the BMW STEP program website to see all that they have to offer along with their requirements for acceptance of training.

Check out our helpful building an automotive resume post for preparing your resume ahead of time. When visiting all of these dealer websites, look for an ‘information’, ‘contact us’, or ‘employment opportunity’ tab and click that link to post your resume.

Even though there are many BMW dealers across the United States I picked these dealers from more populated cities and great places to live. These are locations where the potential for success is higher based on the volume of high end cars per area.

Locating a Dealer

If you want more dealers to search for or are looking for the dealer of your choice refer to the BMW dealer directory. When locating dealers across the United States using this directory enter the state, city, and zip code to narrow your search.

Arizona BMW Dealers

• BMW North Scottsdale
  18018 North Scottsdale Road, Phoenix, Arizona, 85054
  (480) 538-3900
  http://www.bmwnorthscottsdale.com/
• Chapman BMW
  6601 East McDowell Road, Scottsdale, Arizona, 85257
  (480) 464-1224
  http://www.chapmanbmw.com/

California BMW Dealers

• Pacific BMW
  732 South Brand Boulevard, Glendale, California, 91204
  (818) 246-5600
  http://www.pacificbmw.com/
• Stevens Creek BMW
  4343 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Santa Clara, California, 95051
  (408) 249-9070
  http://www.stevenscreekbmw.com/
• BMW of Palm Springs
  3919 East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California, 92264
  (760) 324-7071
  http://www.bmwps.com/
• BMW of San Francisco & Body Shop
  1675 Howard Street, San Francisco, California, 94103
  (415) 551-4285
  http://www.bmwsf.com/
• BMW of San Diego
  5090 Kearny Mesa Road, San Diego, California, 92111
  (858) 560-5050
  http://www.bmwofsandiego.com/

Florida BMW Dealers

• Germain BMW
  3707 Davis Boulevard, Naples, Florida, 34104
  (239) 643-2220
  http://www.germainbmw.com/
• Quality BMW Inc
  1006 Beal Parkway Northwest, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 32547
  (850) 863-2161
  http://www.qualitybmw.com/
• Bert Smith BMW
  3800 34th St N, St Petersburg, Florida, 33714
  (727) 527-1111
  http://www.bertsmith.com/

Nevada BMW Dealer

• Desert BMW of Las Vegas
  2333 South Decatur Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89102
  (702) 871-1010
  http://www.desertbmwlasvegas.com

Oregon BMW Dealers

• Medford BMW
  600 North Central Avenue, Medford, Oregon, 97501
  (541) 774-8450
  http://www.medfordbmw.com
• BMW of Salem
  Salem, Oregon, 97301
  (503) 399-9541
  http://www.delonbmw.com

Enjoying your Success

For those of you who have success searching out and locating a dealer that hires you using the BMW dealer directory from this post please contact us. We would like to spotlight a post about you, your training, and your new career as a BMW certified technician.

Date, Location, and Cost

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Feb. 13-15th at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
General Admission $14, kids 6-12 $5, age 5 and under free. Purchase $2 discount tickets for Friday only at Carquest autoparts stores.

Visit the Carquest Autoparts Indianapolis World of Wheels official website for an inside look of what the show has to offer. Custom cars from Chip Foose, TV show cars, appearances from Overhaulin’s Chris Jacobs and other tv celebrities and much more.

Student Day

Here’s an opportunity for students and Instructors to take a break from the classroom and spend the day learning what the automotive aftermarket world has to offer.

This Friday February 13 is Student Day. See presentations from Chip Foose, Troy Trepanier, and Harold Martin. See what the industry has to offer in the automotive aftermarket businesses such as racing, restoration work, and custom chrome plating. Watch this short video on how to sign up and take your class. Student price is $10 w/o lunch or $15 with lunch.

Enjoy this weekends World of Wheels!!

How to Get Involved

Get on board and work with an organization such as AYES (Automotive Youth Educational Systems) who helps today’s young talented individuals in their automotive programs. Learn how to help with educating, training, and give them an opportunity for job placement while building a strong connection between the highschools and automotive dealerships. Check out what AYES has to offer and how to get involved and get started within your automotive program or dealer. Just click the ‘get involved’ tab at the left of this link for more information for schools or dealers who want to participate.

Reasons for Replacing

The first thought that you might have a problem with your starter would be the fact that your car either cranks slow with no loss of other electrical consumers or it becomes noisy when turning the key to start the engine. As starters age they become very tired, just as you will when you get older.

The amount of electricity that passes through a starter in it’s lifetime is amazing. A known good starter draws about 150-200 amps during cranking. When they wear out they begin to increase the amount of amperage by 2 to 3 times(400-600 amps), assuming that the battery can handle it. Think about the number of times you turn the key on your car every day, year, or decade. Chances are, if you’ve owned a car longer than 10 years then you’ve had a starter fail or give you problems at some point during that time. If not, then your on borrowed time.

Starter Testing

If your starter is drawing a large amount of current, refer to the Battery, Starter, and Alternator Testing to learn how to perform a test and read the results for the starter current draw.

Starter Recommendations

From my observation over the years, I truly believe the factory starters that originally come on your car are the best and longest lasting starters ever. Regardless of the manufacture. Yes you can go and get an aftermarket re-manufactured starter for 1/3 the cost of a factory starter, but they do not last as long. Look at it this way, if you really like the car and plan on keeping it for a long time use a factory starter. If it’s a car that you just want to get rid of, save yourself the expense of a factory starter and buy an aftermarket one.

Difficulty Scale

This is an advanced skill level job. It requires access from under the vehicle when removing the starter and it’s mounting bolts.

Tools for the Job

• 1/4″ ratchet
• 5/16″ socket
• 3.8″ drive ratchet
• 10mm socket
• 13mm socket
• 3/8″ extension 12″ long
• 10mm wrench
• 13mm wrench

Prep for Starter Removal

Locate the starter to be removed. Once again the subject being worked on is a 1995 Monte Carlo with a 3.1 liter V6 engine. Even with very little access, the starter is only held on with 2 mounting bolts, 1 trim cover, and 2 nuts for the wiring.

The starter is located toward the front of the vehicle close to the bottom of the engine.

Note: If you don’t have an automotive lift for accessing removal of the starter, refer to the How to use a jack and stands article for helpful knowledge on using a jack and stands to aid in the replacement of the starter.

Considering that we are working with a component that is wired directly to the battery, the first and most important thing to do is to disconnect the battery before servicing the starter.

All side post batteries have a 5/16″ or 8mm socket size to remove the battery cable.

Important Electrical Caution!!!

Always remember, when disconnecting the battery remove the negative terminal/ground cable first!!! This is to prevent any possible contact with surrounding grounds.

If you touch a ground no problems can occur if your removing the ground cable. On the other hand, if you contact a ground while removing the positive of a live battery you can short circuit the battery and do significant damage to the vehicles electrical system.

Removing the Starter

After disconnecting the battery, use the 13mm wrench to loosen and remove the nut holding the battery positive cable to the starter.

Remember that if the battery was not disconnected this would be a live wire and could short to ground if inadvertently touched when replacing.

Use the 5/16″ socket with ratchet to remove the S terminal wire from the starter.

After jacking up and supporting the vehicle, now is when you need to access the starter from underneath the car. Once under the car locate the starter bolt cover.

Using a 10mm socket and ratchet, remove the cover hold down bolt. This will allow access to the main starter mounting bolts.

Remove the front starter bolt with the 13mm socket, extension, and ratchet.

Remove the rear starter mounting bolt.

Be prepared to support the starter when removing the last bolt. Now the starter just need to be removed.

Noisy Starters Take Note:

Whether the starter that you are replacing was making a loud grinding noise or not, it’s always wise to check the teeth on the flywheel for wear.

Before you install the new starter, check the flywheel teeth where the starter mates up to for turning the engine.

Rotate the engine from the front crank bolt while watching the flywheel teeth looking for any shiny or worn spots. Most of the time when the starter makes a grinding noise it’s damaging the flywheel teeth when they mesh.

By carefully looking at all of the teeth you can make sure that no damage is present that could cause damage to the new starter. Worn flywheel teeth can damage and/or shorten the life of the new starter.

The down side to needing a flywheel is that the transmission will need to be removed for access to replacing the flywheel. Yet another post that will soon come.

Re install the new starter in reverse order and re-test using the Battery, Starter, and Alternator Testing post to test the new starter for proper operation.

Estimate for Repair

(check with your local parts stores for current prices)
Parts to replace
Using aftermarket parts you can purchase a remanufactured starter for around $90. New starters around $200.
Labor to replace
This job should cost approximately .5 hr. labor to test the starting system and 1.5 hrs. to replace the starter assembly. (Example: 2hrs.@ $80)
Parts and Labor
Re-man price/ $250
New price/ $360
Note: Factory parts and shop labor rates will be higher depending on type of repair shop and location.
Time to replace
This job should take an experienced technician approximately 1.5 hours to complete

Reasons for Replacement

A majority of the time when an alternator fails, it stops charging and the battery goes dead. Other times the alternator over charges and cooks the battery. For testing and evaluating of the battery, starting, and charging system refer to the Battery, Starter, and Alternator Testing post to help with diagnosis.

Difficulty Scale

This job may not be time consuming, but there are a few steps that are critical when replacing an alternator. This skill level is more for the advanced level technician. Follow along and learn these important steps.

Tools for the Job

• 1/4″ ratchet
• 5/16″ socket
• 3/8″ ratchet
• 13mm socket
• 15mm socket
• 3/8″ extension 6″ long

Prep for Alternator Removal

Always evaluate the job before starting. Here is a view of the alternator on the left. There are 2 mounting bolts, 1 corner bracket, 1 plugin style connector, 1 nut holding the B+ wire from the battery, and the belt.

Considering that we are working with the heart of the electrical system, the first and most important thing to do is to disconnect the battery before servicing the alternator.

All side post batteries have a 5/16″ or 8mm socket size to remove the battery cable.

Important Electrical Caution!!!

Always remember, when disconnecting the battery remove the negative terminal/ground cable first!!! This is to prevent any possible contact with surrounding grounds.

If you touch a ground no problems can occur if your removing the ground cable. On the other hand, if you contact a ground while removing the positive of a live battery you can short circuit the battery and do significant damage to the vehicles electrical system.

Note: Refer to the Replacing a Serpentine Belt and Tensioner post for how to remove the belt prior to servicing the alternator.

Alternator Removal

Using your ratchet and 15mm socket, remove the upper alternator mounting bolt.

Using the 13mm socket with extension, remove the nut and the alternator support bracket from the corner of the intake manifold.

Remove the lower alternator mounting bolt.

Pull back the protective boot and remove the nut for the battery cable. This is the cable that supplies voltage to the battery when the vehicle is running.

Remove the battery cable. This is why you should disconnect the battery. Eliminate the thought of your wrench touching a ground when removing the B+ cable from the alternator.

Lift out the alternator for removal, but be aware that there is still one more wire to disconnect. The only way to reach the connector is to lift out the alternator for access.

Unplug the 2 terminal connector. This is the power and ground wires that supply the alternators voltage regulator. (More on how the alternator works later)

Install the new alternator in reverse order and retest the charging system to make sure the new alternator is working correctly.
Refer to the Battery, Starter, and Alternator Testing post for a recap on how to check for proper operation of the alternator.

Estimate for Repair

(check with your local parts stores for current prices)
Parts to replace
Using aftermarket parts you can purchase a remanufactured alternator for around $80 and a new alternator for approx. $120.
Labor to replace
This job should cost approx. 2 hr. labor to test the charging system and replace the alternator. (Example: 2hrs.@ $80)
Parts and Labor
Re-man price/ $240
New price/ $280
Note: Factory parts and shop labor rates will be higher depending on type of repair shop and location.
Time to replace
This job should take even the experienced technician approx. 1 to 1.5 hours to complete

This is the same 1995 Monte Carlo used in the compression test post. In the last 10-15 years General Motors vehicles have kept the same drive belt design on the V6 engines. Why change a good thing if it works? From the cars to vans the amount of room may vary, but the routing and spring type tensioner is the same. When changing the belt and tensioner the procedure will not change.

Reasons for Replacement

Belts wear and need to be changed due to visible cracks and possible breakage of the belt or they become noisy from drying out due to age. The tensioners can fail from the bearings in the roller wearing out and becoming extremely noisy or locking up. The spring mechanism can also come apart and cause the belt to jump off the pulleys. Either way, they both can be repaired/replaced.

Tools to be Used

• 3/8″ long handle ratchet
• 13mm socket

Visual Inspection

Here is a belt and tensioner assembly. The belt tension is applied automatically by the spring inside the tensioner and no adjustments are needed. This is how the manufacture designed this type of system.

Take note of the routing the belt takes around each pulley for installation before you remove the old belt.

In order to remove the belt, the spring tension must be released.

Here at the end of the roller there is a 3/8″ square flange designed for a ratchet to aid in belt removal.

Here’s a better look at the tensioner through a mirror.

Belt Removal

Install ratchet into tensioner

Pull tensioner counter clockwise enough to remove belt from top pulley groove.

Trace the belt routing on a piece of paper or look for a diagram on the car. This is to help you remember the route when installing the new belt.

Remove the old belt from pulleys.

Remove Tensioner

Remove the 13mm bolt holding the tensioner to the engine.

Here’s a better look at the tensioner and ratchet off the car.

Estimate for Repair

(check with your local parts stores for current prices)
Parts to replace
Drive belt – If needed, approximately $15-$40 (depending on brand)
Belt tensioner – tensioner w/pulley, $52
Belt pulley – pulley only, approximately $25
Total parts for belt and tensioner assy. from your local parts store, $92 plus tax
Labor to replace
If paid to have replaced approximately 1 hr. labor ($80)
Parts and Labor
Total parts and labor, $172

Time to replace – a realistic amount of time depends on the type of vehicle with this engine.
Worst case scenario, 45 minutes.
Best case scenario, 15 minutes

Tools for the Job

Skill level/Difficulty, Advanced.
Here’s a list of tools you will need to perform this test;

• 3/8 drive ratchet
• Sparkplug socket
• 3″ and 6″ extensions
• Sparkplug wire pullers
• Compression tester
• Remote starter switch

Refer to Sears/Craftsman tools for a great buy on a complete compression test kit and a remote starter switch to use as well.

Estimated Time

If you’ve never done this job before, this could take approximately 2 hours. An experienced technician should be able to perform this job in 3/4 to 1 hour start to finish. A job like this should pay you 2 hours labor if performed for a customer from a repair shop.

Engine Animated Video

Watch this short clip on basic engine construction to see how compression factors into the running cycles during engine operation.

Factors for Testing

This 1995 Monte Carlo came to me with a bad head gasket. As part of trying to determine the full condition of the engine for repair, I am performing a compression test to make sure that no problems exist in the lower end of the engine.

A compression test can be performed for several different reasons. If the engine is running poorly, smoking, or burning a quart of oil in a short period of time could be a few reasons why to perform this test.

One of the most important times to perform this test would be what I call a “check for purchase”. If you plan to purchase a used vehicle with high mileage, you might consider performing a compression test to verify if any long term problems my exist or pop up unexpectedly after your purchase. Protect yourself and your investment.

What to look for

Compression tests are designed to read the amount of compression developed from each cylinder within the engine being tested. Whether you have a 4, 6, or 8 cylinder engine, the manufactures have designed each engine with a specific amount of compression needed to run smoothly and perform at it’s optimum performance range.

Each engine is different based on options like, turbos, supercharger, old style carburators to newer fuel injected systems.

Even without having a specification to compare to, you can always cross compare all your readings from one cylinder to the others and make sure the readings are within 10% of each other. Any cylinder with more than 10% will cause an imbalance and have poor idle and or acceleration.

Set up to Test

For starters you will need to remove the spark plugs in order to hook up the gauge to test the cylinders individually.

Note: Refer to Replacing Engine Spark Plugs for recommendations on spark plug removal.

(Even though this removal procedure is a 4 cylinder engine, the concept is the same and there is helpful knowledge about the tools to use.)

Gauge Hook Up

Remove all the sparkplugs before testing any of the cylinders.

Once removed, install the screw in adapter into the 1st cylinder to be tested. (install hand tight only)

Connect the adapter to the gauge head via the quick release coupler

Obtaining a Reading

Here is where you could do a couple of different things. You could get someone to help by staying in the car and cranking the engine over with the key while you read the gauge or walk around and crank it every time you change cylinders. But I like to promote automotive independence. Plus here’s another special tool that is a must have.

The remote starter switch allows you to connect and jump power to the starter while cranking the engine from under the hood. This is a great time saver when doing this type of job.

Locate the starter on the vehicle being tested. This one can be accessed from the front of the vehicle.

Connect the starter switch across the 2 terminals at the starter.

The small terminal on the solinoid is designated as the S terminal. The S represents the start side of the circuit. When the key is in the crank position, battery power is supplied to this terminal.

The large terminal on the solinoid is designated as the B+ terminal. This terminal has constant battery voltage already there waiting to energize the motor.

The idea is to energize the motor from the remote starter switch by pushing a button when ready.

Perform the Test

Disable the vehicles ignition and fuel system.

Locate and unplug the ignition coil and remove the fuse for the fuel pump to prevent any problems from happening.

Push the remote starter button or turn the key and listen for about 5 revolutions. Record your reading on a piece of paper as you test all of the cylinders. This will allow you to compare your readings when you are done.

If any of the cylinders are lower than the others, retest that cylinder to see if you just had a bad connection with the adapter or loss of compression from the gauge.
Note:(compression range for a gas engine varies, but are approximately 120 psi per cylinder)

Reason for disabling ignition and fuel

With the sparkplugs removed, the fuel system can still spray fuel into the cylinders and the ignition system is still active and can arc and ignite fuel in and around the sparkplug hole causing a flash fire. Never mind that it could possibly arc to you for an unexpected jolt if not paying attention during the test.

Results

Assuming that you had a reading where one or more cylinders were low on compression the problem can only be one of two things, bad piston rings in the lower end, or worn valves in the heads. Here are a couple of things to check.

Start by squirting a small amount of oil into the cylinder being tested and retest that cylinder in question. If the compression reading goes up, this is a sign that the piston rings in the engine are worn. The only resolution to this sort of problem is to repair or replace the engine.

If the compression reading does not change, another test will need to be performed to determine the state of wear. A cylinder leak down test will need to be performed to verify if worn valves in the engine are the cause of loss in compression.

Stay connected with Auto Repair Facts and I will put together a post on how to perform a cylinder leakdown test soon.