Will an oil analysis (via Blackstone Labs) and a compression/leakdown test provide a reasonable synopsis of engine health before a used car purchase? What might you recommend or discount?

 

bumb i'd like to know also

 

Those are two very good ways. But you're still best off having a mechanic you trust look at it in a shop and drive it. There's lots of other stuff besides the motor you want to have looked at.

fltsfshr

 

Visually inspect for fluid leaks. Pay specific attention to all of the liquid gasket seals between the oil pan, crank cradle, and the block.

Verify that all fluids are topped off. Somebody that lets this slide at the time of sale, probably didn't give a crap during the rest of the ownership period either.

Pull the spark plugs and inspect. Hate to admit it but the Chilton manuals have a nice tutorial on interpreting the tea leaves here.

Execute a compression test. A compression test will be a little more time consuming, but its a simple proceedure and only a $30 tool. This will give you some insight into the combustion chambers integrity.

LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN. Does the engine make unusual noises under load or during idle? Especially with internal components, there is no better indication of a failure.

Check the build-up on exhaust tips. Any soot which collects here will have a color... This can provide you very general information on the bias of tuning.

 

Jerry, I just saw your sig... Berlina Black s2000, I ran into you a couple years back when I had my Spa Yellow near Northrup Wy. You had the comptech!!! Any other mods ?

 

Jerry's got a special weight reduction mod on his car these days.

 

The Comptech Supercharger is the only major performance modification at this time. There are a number of tweaks present on the car, but I try to keep things close to stock to preserve ease of maintence. I track the car some what frequently and as a result have removed many of the modifications I made when the car was first purchased. If it doesn't improve reliablilty or make the car faster, I am probably planning to remove it at some point in the future.

 

It really understeers bad in this configuration. I think I'll put the engine back in to mitagate the behavior.