5sfe compresson test

[aw11man]

A mate of mine is looking at buying a st184 celica sx with the 2.2 litre engine (5sfe i think), it has done about 205,000k's and seems to sound and look ok but we are thinking that a compressoin test might be in order just to be sure.

So just wondering what compression should be expected ??

are there any other comon problem areas to look out for ?, i need barganing power all i could really pick out was the suspension bushings and some other unknown vibration noises coming from the front somewhere.

any help appreciated as a decision has to be made by monday
and it has $4800 on it, i was thinking that is a reasonable price but maybe i am wrong

[urantia]

Yeah a comp test is worth doing, anything lower then 140psi on all cylinders is really asking for ring replacment. I'd really be after 150+ psi even on all cylinders.

If your going to comp test it, and get some lowish numbers, try adding some oil down the spark plug hole and re testing, if the numbers shoot up a fair bit, the rings are worn to buggery and i wouldn't even bother buying said car unless you can really get the price down.

Definetly worth checking the oil pressure too. Hopefully it has an oil pressure guage, if the oil pressure seems abit weak then factor in needing bottom end work. Again not worth it for the price of the car.

The vibrations at the front could be anything really, does it do this when it's idling or in neutral? could be a stuffed engine mount, can you rock the engine a fair amount? maybe its misfiring abit? or the crank pully isn't on straight/wobbling. Could be the sound of a stuffed waterpump or just a bearing or belt. Hard to know.

But yeah use those things you've noticed to bargain with may get it for really cheap and it may turn out just fine. (it is a toyota so most probably basic maintenance is all it needs).

If you go for a test drive, get someone to check for smoke coming out the back especially coasting down a hill and gunning it. This will really reveal any oil burning problems.