extremely frustrated after new head gasket, I have at least one or cylinders missing now. Compression on all 4 cylinders is 155-160 psi. Checked spec, should be 199 with service limit of 170psi.
What I'm trying to figure out is head gasket thickness variance. The first head gasket I changed several months ago was very thin metal ( changed due to overheat). This last time I pulled the head, ( due to timing chain breaking and pistons kissing valves) my ebay head gasket kit had a much thicker composite head gasket, ( very noticeable). I kinda scratched my head then thought..." surely it won't make that much difference, it must compress a bunch when installed or something".
So 2 big questions,
#1 is compression 10-15PSI below service limit enough to make it miss?
#2 are there supposed to be different head gasket thicknesses for these engines? If so how do I track down the thinnest one?
I've already tried changing plugs and coils to home in on the miss, only other thing I haven't tested yet is fuel injectors to see if they're working but they were fine about a month ago and they're all plugged in.
Please and thanks for any help