Hi Scotty,
The sedan stalled and daughter managed to get it to side of road. Mechanic says cylinder #3 is 0, zero compression and says car needs new engine. The car was surging or running rough before it stalled on her and would not start. She just had oil change the week before. She said no sign of oil leaks. It is just that we wonder if it could be something besides a New engine ... sounds like a big expense.
I recently changed the ecm on a different other car (also a Subaru), then the coils, then replaced 02 sensors which was the fix and drove great no surging and sold the car at that point. We did tell buyer it needed the head gasket replaced. So I had some recent experience with a rough running car.
Thanks for your time,
Lauren
Thanks for the input!
Lauren
At 19 years old you've probably gotten all that car has to give. Zero compression could be a burned or cracked valve, or even a hole in a piston. Maybe the camshaft jumped time to the extent that pistons hit the valves due to a worn timing belt? Unfortunately repair cost will exceed the value of the vehicle even if it's just a burned valve which is probably the least serious failure that would cause no compression.
A dead cylinder, ouch. Ask your mechanic if he can bore-scope the cylinder to see what's going on inside. If it is limited to a valve failure, that is very repairable. If it is a major failure like a piston or connecting rod, then the engine's likely toast. Because to tear it down to rebuild it is cost prohibitive.
