hubturn

I'd like your opinions about what compression tester to buy. Is the $250 Snap-On necessary or are there quality ones available at a more reasonable price? I want to test my compression and establish a baseline, if one can do that at 100,000 miles! Also, what features are important. 12v AAH, '95 Cab.
Thanks. Oh, I searched the forum, no really good answer. Also, do you need to disconnect fuel? Will fuel act as a sealant for the rings and bring up the pressure? Back in the stone age (prior to fuel injection) we would shoot some oil in the cylinder after a low reading to see if that brought the reading up. If so, it was rings.

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

you get what you pay for. i have a mac-tool tester and its bean wonderful. with fuel... i would not worry about it, just take all the plugs out of the engine before testing

Lago Blue

It would be simple and safe to, while doing this test, to remove all the spark plugs, dis-able the ignition (un-plug the POS?), disconnect all the injectors electrically, and remove the fuel-pump relay. In this fashion you would have no possible fuel and no possible sparks, which should give you some assurance as you have "locked out" a possible fire prior to starting work. This allows you to work safe, always more relaxing.

hubturn

Thanks guys. I was looking for a direction on a brand and if digital is better than round dial. Also, some sites recommend a remote starter switch to avoid engaging the ignition switch and (suppossedly) avoid initiating the start sequence for fuel, ignition, and electronics, thus eliminating the need for some of the steps Lago mentions. Is that possible? The idea being, just crank the starter.

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

i have mechanical one. i would get a digital one if you were doing a compression tests for a living. Mac-tool, matco, snap-on, ether one of those would do you just fine. i would do what Lago has mentioned, your reading too much in to this. I'ts easier to pull a relay and disconnect the POS then crawl underneath our cars, find the connectors on our starters and do it that way. but its up to you, i stick with the KISS rule.