Compression testing on the run

Jack compression testing all 302 cubes

Yesterday, my dad and I rushed to the garage to practice a compression test on the Mustang before he had to catch a flight for London. After grabbing a sandwich to go from our favorite local cheesesteak shop, we arrived at the garage to find that I left the article about compression testing on the printer. Nevertheless, we quickly found it online on my dad’s phone, as well as an eHow about using a remote starter. We quickly tested the battery after charging it last time, and then attached the remote starter. (Have I mentioned we did everything quickly?) Dad took out the spark plugs and had me photograph them after he measured the gaps. He didn’t have enough time to tell me about the importance of the tip color and gaps, so he recommended I look it up in Auto Fundamentals (a really helpful book by Martin Stockel and Chris Johanson).  We only finished dry tests on the first two cylinders, but we’ll have to retest them on our next visit… this was just a practice run in the short time we had today. We’ll have to do it again when we have time to let the engine warm up to operating tempearature first. At least I now understand how to do it for next time.