Head Gasket

[phatTweaker]

Hello I posted this on another forum.
"With all sparkplugs removed following the instructions that came with the compression test kit. I started with cylinder 1 closest to passenger side fender 155psi, cylinder 2 115psi, cylinder 3 105psi, and cylinder 4 145psi.
Next I used a oil can and put a couple squirts of 10w40 motor oil in each cylinder and cranked it over a couple revolutions just to get it all spread out in the cylinders and then repeated the compression test.
With oil cylinder 1 156psi, cylinder 2 160psi, cylinder 3 135psi, and cylinder 4 148psi.
All tests were done on a cold engine and I cranked 12 revolutions per each cylinder.

Does this sound like a bad head gasket or cracked head?"

If it a bad head or gasket is there any complete step by step guides for removing the head? I have a Chiltons book and it doesnt really go into that much depth. I need something that is step by step with photos as well as text thats shows and explains how to keep the cams and timing stuff in order so I wont have timing problems when I put it all back together

thanks for any info.

[GTP Dad]

Actually this doesn't sound like a head gasket. The oil would do nothing to change compression if the gasket were bad. This sounds like the piston rings are worn and not properly sealing. The fact that the compression increased indicates this. If it were a head gasket or burnt valve the compression would have stayed the same. Removing the head is involved because you need to remove a lot of accessory components. If this is a 2.4 or 2.3 if you are not mechanically inclined then you may not want to tackle it yourself due to the problem with setting the timing.