88 Accord, Poor Compression, Chugging sound at exhaust

I have an 88 Honda Accord with 371,000 KM on it and I think the problem is
that it is basically worn out. The compression on all cylinders is between
75 & 90 psi. It is suppose to be at least 141 according to the manual. The
timing belt needed changing so I did that job a couple of weeks ago but no
change in the symptoms. There is a chugging/puffing sound that comes out the
exhaust. I am thinking that this would be caused by exhaust valves that are
not seating. I have checked valve clearance and they are all set within
specs. I am assuming that the problem is a new head assembly and not rings
as it doesn't burn oil. I have heard that the catalytic converter plugs up
on these older vehicles and that I should remove it and put in a straight
pipe. No emission testing where I live, so that may be the cheapest next
step. Anyone else had a similar situation?

 

If you don't have emissions testing requirements, remove the converter,
cut a hole in the top and dump the contents. Re weld a patch over the
previously cut hole and press on... However, I suspect that a set of
rings, valve job, and new bearings would be a major contributor to a
better running vehicle as well...

 

I also had a 88 LXI and sold it three years ago with 378,000 miles on it.
Hopefully it is still running around town with over 400,000 miles on it. At
200K, I was blowing a lot of oil. I had the engine block slit, baked and
the face planed. After three attempt we put in over sized pistons because
of a waiver in the wall, and one piston was still blowing oil. The
difference in the initial estimate was $200 less than for a remanunfactured
short block. The dealership ate more than the $200 to get it right after
three attempts. The short block looking back should and was the correct
fix. The final outcome was more power and another 178,000 miles. A car
this old everything shrinks, cracks, or falls apart when you touch it. Give
it the respect it deserves and park in the driveway and just sit in it and
play the radio once in a while--no kidding.

 

As a follow-up to my original post, the problem has now been found. The
compression test was redone using a gauge with a thread adaptor into the
spark plug hole. This set of tests were good, between 160 and 165 on all
four cylinders. The contents of the Catalytic converter have been removed
and leaving the shell in place. Spark has been verified on all four
cylinders. With the engine running, the ignition wire was removed from the
#3 cylinder without any noticeable difference in engine speed. #3 cylinder
was dead, but had good compression and spark. Ran the engine with #3 spark
plug removed and the air expelled through the spark plug hole lacked the
smell of "gas", just plain air. This is a carburetored engine, how can 3
cylinders get fuel/air mixture but the one cylinder doesn't, that was the
question. In close examination of the face between the intake manifold and
the cylinder head (at #3 cylinder intake port), a small section of gasket
seemed to have vanished. This was confirmed with a fine wire that could be
pushed between the two surfaces. At high speed or under full throttle there
is enough fuel going through the carb and the leak is small enough that the
problem is barely noticeable. If the gasket gap had been on the bottom side
of the intake manifold, it is doubtful that it would have been detected.

 

It sounds like you had a really bad vacuum leak. This could have been
easily detected by spraying carburetor cleaner on the manifold to head
junction or via a propane enrichment test.

Eric