my car is the 2.4L 4 cylinder accord 2008 coupe manual transmission with 149k km on the odometer, recently i took it to a mechanic for a misfire. The code was for a misfire and the spark plugs were changed. Then it was figured out that it was still misfiring and did a compression test. It was found that it only had 30 psi, while the rest had around 120 psi. This started happening from driving in the highway, after a turn at an exit and slowing down, it srarted vibrating and lost its acceleration and the check engine light started flashing
the mechanic recommended a new engine or a rebuild. I also took it to a mechanic i know and he says the car has mechanical problems and does need a new engine.
now my question is, is there really no hope for the engine now? Is it worth it to buy a new engine, or rebuild it (they say that an engine swap is cheaper and safer). Or should i just get another car? I do like the car a lot, and if theres anything else i can do for it hust to be sure? Thank you!
It depends on what the problem is. It could be a burned valve or blown head gasket. If so that's a pretty big job to fix but might be worth it if the rest of the car is in good shape, especially if you can do the job yourself. I had a similar situation quite a few years ago on a car and it turned out to be a failed exhaust valve that had cracked. I installed a rebuilt cylinder head myself with a new head gasket of course and drove it another 100,000+ miles.
You might want to spray some oil in the weak cylinder - if compression improves the problem is rings and a major overhaul is indicated. You could also do a leakdown test to see where the lost compression is going.
A used replacement engine from Japan might be the way to go. Because of the strict crazy inspection laws in Japan, cars are frequently scrapped way ahead of their time and you can get a good low-mileage used engine imported from there.
Thanks! Do you reckon if changing or fixing the valves will be a hard thing to do? Or would it be better if I just send the valve head to a machine shop if the problem is not with the piston rings?
Swapping out the engine for another one is my main option right now, as I don't really got the tools or the experience to work on the engine.
There may be rebuilt cylinder heads available that you can install. Best option though if you don't want to mess around with engine internals may be a good low-mileage used engine from Japan.