Bad compression in 1 cylinder

Asked by Kyle May 08, 2016 at 01:54 PM about the 1989 Pontiac Sunbird GT Turbo Coupe

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Okay so I just picked up a new car, a
decent little 89 turbo sunbird and the
owner told me it needed new head gaskets
so I went ahead and bought some. I was
able to borrow a compression tester and
found out I had good compression on 3
out of 4 cylinders, when I pulled the spark
plug in the 3rd cylinder, it was broken and
was able to get some of the shaving out.
Idk how long ago it would have happened.
There was also some anti freeze in that
cylinder and my question is should I just
look for a motor to swap in or go ahead
and change the head gaskets and drive it
till it blow. The compression in that cylinder
was 95 while the rest were sitting between
145-150

Kyle answered 8 years ago

Also what should I be expecting to replace if I decide to repair it ?

Mark helpful

42,455

Auto_Centric answered 8 years ago

If the body's in great shape and you love the car do the engine swap. Its more economical than servicing an old overheated blown head gasket, timing belt, cylinder head valves (piston)? and turbo.. '89 etc. Remember this is really a OPEL engine with a Garrett T-25 turbocharger about 9psi maybe 160hp. Regards

Mark helpful