We've all been learning......it seems to me retainers are not failing, they are splitting from an over rev. I had a customer who swore he never over reved, but I found broken retainers. And I belive him, as he has nothing to hide. HOWEVER....he did get his car back from the dealer with 70 extra miles on the clock. I think I know who did it.

 

Ouch, did he bring it up to the dealer?

 

Ouch!!! I once had toyota did a "test drive" on my car that took 32 miles and I made sure they heard about it. They always claimed that they never took it that far but I think I heard the mechanic say something about the highway which was a good couple miles away and completely unnecessary.

So billman would you say that piston rings would be the biggest and first place to look at loses? :edit: as long as the car hasn't been over reved.

 

Is it safe to assume then engines with equal compression numbers have similar hp ratings?

My new engine feels stronger, and it isn't fully broken in yet. The short block was changed. To give you an idea, the dealer did a compression and leakdown test on my old engine and the results showed that my old engine had excellent compression and leakdown #s, almost as good as new.

 

The head will go first.

 

How much trouble is it to put in new valve springs and retainers?

 

not to bad...it can be done without pulling the head. 2-4 hrs.