Hi all, the 20v turbo im looking to buy is going in for a fresh m.o.t on tues and while its in the specialest, i have asked for the mechanic to do a engine compression test and to check the turbo over, ie play in shaft and oil etc and im getting charged £30.00 for it which i thought was good..,what pressure should i expect to see? also if there is anything else in your experience that i should get checked that wont be checked either by a mot or the tests ive mentioned, i just spoke to the first owner of the car which was a lease company, they are forwarding the service history for the car to me but they only owned it for 3 years, so what should i expect to see service history wise upto 3 years... thatnks for all your help guys its been invaluble....

any ideas guys,,, (not pestering lol)

clutch is always worth checking out, first coop i had needed changing within 2 weeks!, cost over £500 , so you dont want that

Mr C

cheers mate, anything else i can do?? i suppose an mot and pressure test are about as in depth as you can go without stripping the engine...?

Any ideas what pressure should be classed as ok?? and what not so good?? cheers.

for pressure the specialists like to see 150 for each cyl, 140 is okay less is classed advisory/ill. test has to be done hot. Leak test is good idea, block test, and if low compression check to see if it is cyl or head related. head would just be valves not seated properly, cyl more likely to be rings on way out IMHO.
other thing would be wishbones on the front, brake discs/pads, manifold between 4th and 5th, and see what oil level is like. Dead givaway if the oil is low that the last owner ran it without care.

mot is bull, it really checks nothing. makes sure the brakes are working and that its not spewing co2 out into the air

cheers mate, well as its had wishbones,exhaust(not manifold tho) Fast road discs and pads so should be ok, hope the engine checks out.......what if the pressure is not even along cylinders? how out can it be?

when were they all done tho mate. i have discs and pads done every 10k, wishbones every 15k. how long is a piece of string with regards to preessure being out. again the specialists like to see all the cyl in the 140-150 range, but happier for them to be all the same, ie all around 140s or all around 150s. 5th cyl is normally the one that gets low on pressure as its the weakest link. BUT think KP had no 4 piston go twice in as many weeks, with all the other cyls being fine. dont get too bogged down with the finest details. as i was told when buying my latest car, there is no such thing as perfection, just look for the mearest thing to it!