Be careful when introducing air pressure into the cylinder the piston can suddenly travel downward. One of the gauges on the tester shows the pressure at which the cylinder is being pressurized.
Cylinder Leak Down Tester
How to do a cylinder leak down test. Remove the spark plug and place the problem cylinder at tdc top dead center of the compression stroke. Hook up the tester. A threaded coupling is screwed into a spark plug hole. Like a compression test a leak down test is accomplished by replacing a spark plug with the tester hose. Honda civic diagnosis part ii cylinder leak down test duration. How to do a cylinder leak down test on an e46 bmw duration.
When the leak down test tool is attached to the cylinder the next task is to attach the tool itself to the air compressor. Locate top dead center. Always make sure to test cylinder leakage with the piston at the top of the cylinder. Compressed air 80 to 90 psi is then fed into the cylinder. An engine leakdown test is a compression test in reverse. The crankshaft is then turned so that each piston is at top dead centre.
This is where the greatest cylinder wear occurs. How to perform a leak down test. The resistance from the other spark plugs helps resist this downward movement. A cylinder leak down test requires the removal of all the spark plugs. Once the piston is at tdc of the compression stroke air pressure is introduced through a cylinder leak down gauge. Unlike a compression test a leak down tester has two gauges and requires a compressed air source.
Read and interpret the test results. It does little good to measure leakage with the piston at. The right hand dial will give a reading as a percentage. Once the compressor hose is connected turn the regulator clockwise to allow the air to flow into the cylinder. Youll need a leak down tester industrial grade air compressor one large enough to run air tools a ratchet extension. Remove the spark plug on that cylinder only.
Instead of measuring the engines ability to create pressure compressed air is introduced into the cylinder through the spark plug hole.