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calamiti · 11-27-2007, 06:10 PM

Aarrggh! My '97 Ti with M44 engine has decided, with no warning, to to mess around! All was well a couple of weeks ago when i parked the car. Yesterday I turned the key to be greeted with the sound of no compression and when the engine did fire up it sounded really rough, as though one or two spark plugs had been removed. It needed some throttle to get it to run, (it's never needed any throttle before), then cleared and settled down to a slightly lumpy idle. Did a compression test - o.k. 1, 2 and 4 at 250 p.s.i. and 3 at 230 p.s.i. Thought it may be a sticky valve or a faulty hydraulic follower so last night i put some flushing additive in and ran it for over half an hour. Also changed the spark plugs and air filter. When it's warm it starts no problem. Tried it again this morning. Same thing - starts on three cylinders then clears and will re-start with no problems. I changed the oil and filter this afternoon and will try starting the engine again in the morning. I'll do a compression test first. Anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions? All I did was leave it parked for a couple of weeks. Perhaps it just needs a good thrashing.

11-27-2007, 06:10 PM	#1
calamiti Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: england Posts: 8 iTrader: (0) Photo Gallery	Starts on three and a half cylinders! Aarrggh! My '97 Ti with M44 engine has decided, with no warning, to to mess around! All was well a couple of weeks ago when i parked the car. Yesterday I turned the key to be greeted with the sound of no compression and when the engine did fire up it sounded really rough, as though one or two spark plugs had been removed. It needed some throttle to get it to run, (it's never needed any throttle before), then cleared and settled down to a slightly lumpy idle. Did a compression test - o.k. 1, 2 and 4 at 250 p.s.i. and 3 at 230 p.s.i. Thought it may be a sticky valve or a faulty hydraulic follower so last night i put some flushing additive in and ran it for over half an hour. Also changed the spark plugs and air filter. When it's warm it starts no problem. Tried it again this morning. Same thing - starts on three cylinders then clears and will re-start with no problems. I changed the oil and filter this afternoon and will try starting the engine again in the morning. I'll do a compression test first. Anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions? All I did was leave it parked for a couple of weeks. Perhaps it just needs a good thrashing.