KA/SR help??

[EsThirteenCoupe]

So I have a 92 s13 coupe. It's gotten a few battle scars since I've owned it but it has always had a really strong engine. One day it was pouring rain outside and i took it out to the back of walmart parking lot and tried to get it sideways. Nothin. For some reason it just didn't have the same power. after putting my foot into it a couple times on the road i could tell the car had a lot less ponies. a couple days later I did a compression test, checked my ignition timing, performed a back pressure test, and pulled every spark plug one at a time to check for a misfire.(changed my spark plugs too) Everything checked out fine. my compression was at 119 psi but the engine has 130k miles and i figured that was normal. Anyone have a solution? Maybe more tests i should try? I want my old KA back


Alright now i was browsing craigslist and found a stock sr for 700 bucks. guy said it was seized and when he turned it over with a breaker bar or something he said it sounded as though it was "hitting" something? common problems? Do i need more info? 700 bucks is a great deal but i dont want to spend 1300 bucks to get it running again and pay the same as all the other sr's 1500-2500.

All suggestions are much appreciated. New to the forum so if i broke a rule in the thread just tell me, i'll be glad to fix it.
Thanks

[NCsilvia88]

i dont know what to say about your car just do the basics it could be u need a tune up or something like that as for the 700 car it could be vapor or hydro locked or mabie a broken piston thats my guess either way if its seized liked that u would have to do a rebuild which can be costly

[EsThirteenCoupe]

i dont know what to say about your car just do the basics it could be u need a tune up or something like that as for the 700 car it could be vapor or hydro locked or mabie a broken piston thats my guess either way if its seized liked that u would have to do a rebuild which can be costly

Thanks, should i check my cam timing?

[moso]

your cam timing should be fine, very unlikely its off. did you pull all the plugs when you did your compression test? if not that may be the cause of your low compression numbers. the ka24de should have a compression over 150, 180 or above is great variance of about 15psi. 119 is rebuild time. chances are tho at 130k, if its taken care of, it should be fine. there are guys on here with 250k. i would do a tune up, air filter, fuel filter, check the timing (like with a timing light).

[EsThirteenCoupe]

Yeah I checked my ignition timing with a light and got nothing. What do you mean pull ALL the plugs? why would that make a difference (i think i did anyways but im no sure)

[moso]

if you dont remove all the plugs it can slow the engines rpms and give you an inaccurate reading, at least thats what i was always taught and i went to school for this crap, but all that aside what compression tests really hinge on is the variance. if you read 119 across the board with a variance of less than say 10psi than your motor is probably fine and your gauge is off or your doing something incorrectly. the real o crap moment is when 3 cyls say 150psi and one reads 119psi, 31psi variance = no good!