Elite 501 1980 compression test

[hatters]

Hi once again 

Does anyone know what the compression test reading should be on this model after starting the car up in my drive the guy who lives next door comes around to tell me it's missing ,to be honest it doesn't sound too bad to me and there is no vibration ,following his comments I thought I would do it ,I have a decent compression tester the one that screws into the head and doesn't just rely on pushing it in the spark plug hole ,is it best to remove all the spark plugs when carrying out this test 

Cheers for now Roan 

[dmottram]

Remove all the spark plugs and ensure that the throttle is fully open when doing the test. Do it a couple of times on each cylinder.

[hatters]

I have just completed the compression test,and what a job I had ,the spark plugs were very tight.  I know they are not very old because I purchased them when I bought the motor. The main problem I had was I could not screw the test gauge into the cylinder head  and after a great deal of thought and head scratching I found there was a brass adapter screwed on the end of the gauge which was a larger diameter than a spark plug I screwed this off and hey presto the end of the hose on the gauge was the same diameter as a spark plug so I continued to carry out the test .I tested all  four cylinders and to my relief the readings were all the same or very similar 120 PSI now thats out of the way I can carry on restoring the car it wants a new screen they have them in stock at LOTUSBITS about £350,00 plus fitting it also wants four new tyres so thank goodness the compression test was OK if it wasn't I would have to  sell it 

Roan 

[TAR]

I think the manual states minimum to be 150 psi? You may want to confirm it as there is also a higher value for some engine specs.  

[hatters]

Thank you for your reply ,I had a thought when I was doing it that it should be a bit higher but I suppose that is for a new engine my engine has covered 60,000 and I am satisfied that they are all the same just over 120 psi I don,'t think it requires stripping down yet 

Thanks again for your reply to my post 

Roan

[dmottram]

IF you carried out the compression test without having the throttle fully open when cranking the engine the readings would be low.