[Kurt Vitin]

Hi everyone I've been looking to buy an abarth for the longest time and finally i bit the bullet and bought one, of course there's a catch the previous owner was only selling the car because the engine lost compression in cylinder 1. I haven't had the chance to look into the issue because I was at college finishing up my first year and I finally got around to it. I was pretty convinced that my multi air actuator was acting up but after doing a continuity test on the solenoids (I'm not sure that's how I'm supposed to do it) they all came back as working. I ended up taking off the valve cover and the actuator but when pooping it off the keyways only popped off on one side so it was skewed at an angle coming off. And while taking it off completely one of the two sticky downy bits for cylinder 2(not sure what the real term is) came off. I have heard that they are not supposed to just pop off and I assumed that I did a big oops (correct me if I'm wrong). In response to this I decided to put all the parts back on and see if it will run again, torqueing the actuator and plugging in all the lines and connections. I even tried priming the actuator to help it run after taking it out and spilling oil all over my driveway. so in conclusion.... I Kurt Vitin of 18 years of age successfully made my 4 cylinder running on 3, run on 2. I look forward to taking part in this community and would be ecstatic if someone would be as kind to tell me my mistakes. Thanks!

And Yes I already took off the roof-racks

 

[Bennysc1]

I would do a compression check but I would re install the valve cover first

 

[J.B.]

I think you need to put the multiair brick back together properly first. I don't honestly know what continuity test would prove other than there's a continuity.

 

[Kurt Vitin]

I would do a compression check but I would re install the valve cover first

While I was working on it yesterday, I only had an american spark plug compression tester at the time, am picking one up later today

 

[Kurt Vitin]

I think you need to put the multiair brick back together properly first. I don't honestly know what continuity test would prove other than there's a continuity.

Will do, so I shouldn't be concerned that one of the hydraulic valve actuators on the bottom had fallen out?

 

[J.B.]

Will do, so I shouldn't be concerned that one of the hydraulic valve actuators on the bottom had fallen out?

What fell off exactly?? I mean, nothing should fall off as such, I don't believe...

 

[Kurt Vitin]

What fell off exactly?? I mean, nothing should fall off as such, I don't believe...

The lifter on the bottom of the actuator had fell out, I heard that they usually should just pop off but on mine it just fell out when I was taking it off of the head

 

[J.B.]

Oh - I see, yeah, they are kind of held in there with oil, normally doesn't fall off, you have to pull it out. Yeah, I would put that back in. There should be a retaining circlip type thing on the plunger thing, you may be missing it?

 

[Kurt Vitin]

Oh - I see, yeah, they are kind of held in there with oil, normally doesn't fall off, you have to pull it out. Yeah, I would put that back in. There should be a retaining circlip type thing on the plunger thing, you may be missing it?

yeah I did seem to be missing the retaining clip but I was able to use some grease to keep it from falling out, seemed to work when I put it back.

I ended up doing a compression test and cylinder 1 had no compression what so ever, I even tested if the piston ring was shot but everything pointed to the valves.
Today I started taking off the front end to access the head. Is it possible to keep the AC condenser attached so I don't have to charge it again?

Thanks for all the help and responses

 

[Bennysc1]

It is easier with the a/c compressor out of way so that it does not get damaged.

 

[Bennysc1]

I meant to say are condensor

 

[Bennysc1]

I am curious if you have a bent valve in the number 1 cylinder? Did it do any damage to the piston?

 

[Kurt Vitin]

I am curious if you have a bent valve in the number 1 cylinder? Did it do any damage to the piston?

I’m not exactly sure if it damaged the cylinder, I guess I’ll find out when I pull the head, when it ran I didn’t hear an obnoxious knocking or anything that sounded out of the ordinary so it could be that the seal just isn’t perfect

 

[Kurt Vitin]

It is easier with the a/c compressor out of way so that it does not get damaged.

Ok thanks yeah that’s what I’ve seen too thanks for clearing that up

 

[J.B.]

I don't like to speculate, but...before removing the head, if it's not too late, would it be possible to purchase a good, used multiair brick and try it out. The brick needs to be primed to properly check compression. Also, just out of curiosity, how did the cam lobes look?

 

[Bennysc1]

I would agree checking with the cam lobes and make sure the cam isn’t broken meaning it did not crack in half. I have seen that before as well. I have a cylinder four issue with no compression but have not dugs to far yet into the problem

 

[Kurt Vitin]

In the pictures you can see the lobes are in good shape, And after pulling the turbo off, cylinder 1's exhaust port looked wet as if the exhaust side valves stayed open and the cylinder had no compression at all, the shop that had it before diagnosed it as the valves were to fault.
Yeah... as you can see I've kind of gone passed the point of no return.

While looking at the timing belt there does not appear to be any markings to properly time the engine, is there something I didn't see or I've seen that there's a tool to lock the positions. Would I need this tool to do the timing and remove the head?

Thanks again

 

[Bennysc1]

The cam looks to be in tack. Was the spark plug in the number one cylinder wet with oil or dry? I am not sure you need a special tool to remove the timing belt but I would mark the timing belt and the sprocket in various places to install a new belt in the future. Are you planning on going further to remove the head?

 

[J.B.]

There is a special timing belt tool, that holds cam in the right place from the other side of the engine (right side on the picture).
So, if the mutiair brick doesn't have oil pressure in it, it won't operate the valves, so could cause 'no compression' reading, that's what I was wondering, particularly considering that the plunger is missing the retaining ring...

 

[Kurt Vitin]

Ok so I will order the timing tool then, So on the multiair even if the missing retaining ring was on the plunger for cylinder two it wouldn't operate cylinder one?