Got a Reliant 850cc in for some work...
The owner put 50% diesel in my mistake and then to compound it, allowed someone to alter the ignition timing etc "to get him home". He drove a number of miles on full choke as it was the only way it would run after this "modification".
I have emptied and cleaned out the tank, reset the points gap and timing, then reset the mixture. It was running reasonably well although every few minutes it would drop its idle speed and was obviously running on 3 cylinders. I put this down to a fouled plug and suggested he ran it for a while to see if it cleared, before fitting new ones.
Owner had it back and drove a few miles. He had to stop twice to fill it with water and he says it was blowing clouds of clear smoke from the exhaust.
Just put it on a compression test and have the following:
4) 250 dropping to 200 on subsequent tests, deposits on plug end. 3) 160 good plug appearance 2) 170 good plug appearance 1) 160 oily appearance of plug.Now my experience of this engine is that it would be producing around 175 on a good engine. My suspicion is a failed head gasket, but I was taken aback by the high pressure being developed in 4.
I really really don't want to lift the head if I don't have to. It's a bitch to seperate the head from the block due to the studs. As yet, I have not done any coolant tests, but it didn't blow over during idle speed tests.