hello,
i have a 92 ranger 2.3l and i think the head gasket is blown. i did a compression test and got the following results: 105,105,60,165. just wondering if it could be more than a bad head gasket. why would the pressure in #3 be so low and in #4 so high? is the compression from #3 leaking into #4? any thoughts will be appreciated.
I once had a head gasket blow between cylinders, so that is possible. However, the numbers you describe don't seem to indicate that at all. If two side by side cylinders had an opening between them, both would have low compression numbers. Besides, if you had a gasket blown between cylinders, you'd hear a peck, peck, peck as the air was forced back and forth from cylinder to cylinder.
It looks more like you either have a valve problem, or, more likely, a problem in the cylinder. It might be the compression rings in that cylinder are broken, or the cylinder wall is scored, or even a burned piston.
I'm no expert, by any means, so take this message as my somewhat educated opinion. Someone else could tell you how to troubleshoot the situation further.
CJB
My thought is that you have three bad cylinders. I'm sure it runs badly and you have other symptoms too. Perhaps sharing the whole story would help you.
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