Hey guys, decided to do a compression test today so bought myself a cheap tester from autobarn (sptools brand) and proceeded to test compression.

Followed countless diys, engine was warm, fuel pump fuse removed and done at wot.

My results were very alarming!
#1: 165, #2: 165, #3: 165, #4: 170.

The numbers are waaay lower than what i was expecting and now worried I'll be needing a new engine

Car seems to run fine, haven't had any issues apart from the following -
Engine ticks, pretty sure they are noisy injectors and from watching yotube vids and reading forums, the noise seems normal for s2ks.

Burns a little oil - it's an ap1 with 135k km.

Temp guage takes ages to go up to 3 bars and sometimes it drops from 3 back down to 2. thinking maybe it's a thermostat?

Any advice? Engines cost soooo much and i cant imagine how much labour costs would be.

 

Ok so bought a more expensive tester and performed the tes while the car battery was hooked up to a running car and i got the following numbers -
1: 211,2: 215, 3: 211, 4: 210.

much better and i repeated it with the cheap tester and got similar nunbers to the original test so putting it down to a cheaper quality tester not being accurate.

 

No need to worry. It's not high numbers you need, but consistency.

If you have an issue you will see variance, regardless of the quality of the tester.

 

True. Your numbers look fine.

Did you opened the trottle by hand or foot while testing? It will give a little bit more.
Also car battery and starter needs to be in good condition.

If one of the cilinders shows a low compression compared to the others, you can put in some oil in the cilinder and test again.
The oil will seal the piston rings for an amount of time, and can give a higher number, which means worn piston rings.
If the number is the same, and still low, it will mean worn valves or valve guides.