Ok I don't know who to ask this question and after searching the forums and coming up dry, I guess I will ask you guys. I was told that there is is rule of thumb when it comes to testing cylinders for compression and you don't have access to a gauge, if after 6-8 cranks of the engine you get enough pressure to blow your thumb off the hole then it's good, my question is do you have to do this to all the cylinders or is it enough to just test one?
Thanks

any engine will blow your thumb off the hole in 1 crank if it does not you have serious problems and you should check all cylinders get a guage they should all be within 10% of each other book says 380 psi minimum my last 6.2 ran fine with 350 but used alot of oil by the end

That test will just tell you 'yes, there is a piston in there'

Ok, so I guess the answer is yes, I do have to check each cylinder and compare, I don't have access to a gauge so I will have to buy one, my understanding is has to be able to handle 300-400 PSI and it will need an adapter that fits the glow plug hole? Any ideas where I can find used equipment that might be lesss expensive?
Thanks

check ebay for diesel engine compression testers.

I was just thinking about doing that lol.

Well checked ebay and aside from buying a brand new one over $100, the rest are sold as is and untested. I think I'm going to have to see if I can find one to borrow somewhere.

See if there is a diesel shop or garage that will loan you one maybe.

That's not a bad idea, I'm also seeing if I can get one at the local flea market. If the compression turns out to be bad in 1 cylinder, is there an immediate cause like a piston or valve, or blown head gasket? I don't see any milky white subtance in the oil like you would if the gasket were blown. I have to tell you that starting fluid has been sprayed on various occasions, other then locking up the motor or blowing the head what other type of damage can the ether do that would affect the compression and combustion. I'm still learning all this and it's quite a learning curve. One thing I was wondering, can the motor being over filled with oil keep the engine from starting. Is there anything else that might be keeping it from responding to starting fluid?
Thanks for all the help.

cracked piston, bent connecting rod would be the most likely then, especially if you've had the engine in ether lock before.

Let me get this straight. You can't start the vehicle, you haven't done a compression test yet, and you are wondering if you have a bad cylinder/piston. Is this right? First off, one bad cylinder/piston should not prevent 7 other good ones from firing. Did this happen suddenly? Has the problem come on gradually? In my experience (which is not extensive), Ether should get it started in the event that the glow plugs are bad. But it will not start the engine if the starter is bad. Have you confirmed that the starter is good? If it can't spin the engine fast enough, nothing will start it. I had this problem with mine. Took the starter to Napa, and it tested fine, so I ruled it out as the problem. New glow plugs, new batteries, lots of frustration. Finally, I bought a new starter. Problem solved. A very similar chain of events followed with my friend's Rabbit. I kept telling him it was the starter, but he tried to rule out everything else first. Finally we push started it. He got a new starter. Problem fixed.

So make sure your starter is good. Diesel starters take a lot of abuse. You could try roll starting it if you have a big enough hill nearby. Also, make sure your glow plugs are good before you try roll starting it, because spraying ether isn't practical in that situation.

My 2 cents if it helps

Coolant in the oil is rare on these engines. It depends on where the gasket fails. Most of the time, it's pressure buildup in the radiator and bubbles in the coolant recovery bucket that signals head gasket failure. If run long enough, coolant in the oil will follow.

The old 5.7 Olds would vapor lock the heater as a first sign. When the heater quit working, you knew the head gaskets were leaking! Happened almost every time. If you loosened the radiator cap and restarted the engine, the heater would work again until it built up pressure. Usually in about 15 seconds!!

Start with the basics, do you have fuel to the injection pump? Good pressure? No fuel = no start. Next check your injection pump solenoid (heavy wire goes to top of injection pump, ) with key in the on position, remove wire and then reinstall, do you hear a click? This solenoid has to function in order for the injectors to get fuel.:grd:

Start with the basics, do you have fuel to the injection pump? Good pressure? No fuel = no start. Next check your injection pump solenoid (heavy wire goes to top of injection pump, ) with key in the on position, remove wire and then reinstall, do you hear a click? This solenoid has to function in order for the injectors to get fuel.:grd:

Yes I have tested all this before, Yes I have both filters primed and full of clean fuel to the best of my knowledge. Yes I have fuel to to injection pump, I have fuel coming out the return from the I.P. I belive I have enough pressure to get fuel out of the injector lines, but not all, there is probably still air in the lines somewhere.I did put an electric fuel pump on before the primary filter. The manual pump is working just fine, I can't say anything about the lift pump. Yes the I.P. has a click, so the solenoid is working. I have a glow plug head that is spinning. One thing though, I checked the plugs with a multimeter with the only ohms setting I have which is 2M and I have a default of 1, when I put the lead on them I get 000, I have been told that means dead, but I get the same reading on 2 new plugs as well, any thoughts?
Thanks I will reply to the other posts, so please read those as well.

Let me get this straight. You can't start the vehicle, you haven't done a compression test yet, and you are wondering if you have a bad cylinder/piston. Is this right? First off, one bad cylinder/piston should not prevent 7 other good ones from firing. Did this happen suddenly? Has the problem come on gradually? In my experience (which is not extensive), Ether should get it started in the event that the glow plugs are bad. But it will not start the engine if the starter is bad. Have you confirmed that the starter is good? If it can't spin the engine fast enough, nothing will start it. I had this problem with mine. Took the starter to Napa, and it tested fine, so I ruled it out as the problem. New glow plugs, new batteries, lots of frustration. Finally, I bought a new starter. Problem solved. A very similar chain of events followed with my friend's Rabbit. I kept telling him it was the starter, but he tried to rule out everything else first. Finally we push started it. He got a new starter. Problem fixed.

So make sure your starter is good. Diesel starters take a lot of abuse. You could try roll starting it if you have a big enough hill nearby. Also, make sure your glow plugs are good before you try roll starting it, because spraying ether isn't practical in that situation.

My 2 cents if it helps

Yes that is the case, I'm only wondering this because after telling a seasoned diesel mechanic that I couldn't get any response to the ether that he felt a compression test was in order. However based on what you said about the starter it leads me to wonder, since the starter is what started this whole problem. However the day my engine just stopped, about 3 months ago now. I cracked the line that comes out from the secondary filter and I accidentally introduced air into the lines, not knowing that my starter solenoid nut was loose, floating and arcing and that was part of the cause I couldn't start it because it wasn't drawing enough current. The reason it was loose is that after going to a AAA certified mechanic who had to EZ out a broken starter bolt, he neglected to tell me about the loose solenoid when he put it back. Since then I have had the rig started but got more in the lines from a crack in the line that goes into to the 2nd filter, I have replaced that line with fuel hose, it was the line that has the warmer, but I'm not concerned about that because it's not cold here. I did finally replace the starter solenoid, prior to replacing the solenoid I took it to Advanced to have it checked and it was fine, but they didn't say or notice anything about the solenoid threads being worn. It seems like the engine is turning fast enough but what do I know. I have taken the starter to I think it was I wonder if the starter got burned out, finding a new starter around here is going to be pretty hard. Is there any kind of test I can do other than voltage to make sure it's working right? Other than of course again takeing it out and having it tested. Before this thing with the starter the only thing I can tell you is that the engine was haveing trouble starting without the vacum assist switch pulled out, and that was in humid conditions not cold like it's supposed to be used in, prior to that my after market Audiovox ccs-100 cruise control, went out. I know there is some kind of connection with the vaccum because the CC utilizes the vaccum, is it possible my vacum pump is hindering starting? Essentially I can't run the engine without stallling without the vaccum assist on, I have asked mechanics about this and they are stumped, any ideas?
Thanks sorry for the long post.:grd:

Let me get this straight. You can't start the vehicle, you haven't done a compression test yet, and you are wondering if you have a bad cylinder/piston. Is this right? First off, one bad cylinder/piston should not prevent 7 other good ones from firing. Did this happen suddenly? Has the problem come on gradually? In my experience (which is not extensive), Ether should get it started in the event that the glow plugs are bad. But it will not start the engine if the starter is bad. Have you confirmed that the starter is good? If it can't spin the engine fast enough, nothing will start it. I had this problem with mine. Took the starter to Napa, and it tested fine, so I ruled it out as the problem. New glow plugs, new batteries, lots of frustration. Finally, I bought a new starter. Problem solved. A very similar chain of events followed with my friend's Rabbit. I kept telling him it was the starter, but he tried to rule out everything else first. Finally we push started it. He got a new starter. Problem fixed.

So make sure your starter is good. Diesel starters take a lot of abuse. You could try roll starting it if you have a big enough hill nearby. Also, make sure your glow plugs are good before you try roll starting it, because spraying ether isn't practical in that situation.

My 2 cents if it helps

I understand what you are saying, I don't have much of an incline here so push start is out, I'm in a campground and there is not much hill here. I can certainly understand the frustration!
Thanks

I have a glow plug head that is spinning. One thing though, I checked the plugs with a multimeter with the only ohms setting I have which is 2M and I have a default of 1, when I put the lead on them I get 000, I have been told that means dead, but I get the same reading on 2 new plugs as well, any thoughts?

What do you mean exactly by spinning?

Another thing to consider: If your relay is bad, you might be burning out new plugs as soon as you put them in. If you are at all in doubt as to the proper functioning of the relay, I'd go with a manual relay. There is much info. on this site about how to do that.

Get all those plugs working properly. Hopefully we can help you out with the "spinning" plug.

Spinning as in when I put the socket on it to get out the socket just spins on the head of the plug can't get a grip, the hex of the head is loose. As for the relay, it turned out I just had a bad 10 amp fuse which I replaced and the relay is clicking away fine. Any other thoughts on what I mentioned like the vaccum assist?
Thanks

Did I read your post right that the engine just quit on you one day?

If thats true, have you considered that the pump might be siezed?

I would pull the pump out, you'll be able to tell real easy, the driveshaft will spin very freely, but you should take it somewhere to get checked out.

Are you reffering to the vaccum pump? Would the vacuum pump cause the engine to turn but not start? Yes it did quit but I did get it started after that, but then it quit again and I haven't got it started since.

The vacuum pump has no bearing at all on the engine starting. I am still trying to figure out your problem with the spinning glow plug. If you crank the engine over does that hole leak compression? Buy a cheap 5.00 test light for testing your glow plugs. Attach one end to batt + touch other end to glow plug spade, it should light up, if it doesn't replace the glow plug. When you get your glow plug situation figured out for sure, take the air cleaner off, spray a good amount of WD 40 into the air intake, cylcle glow plugs and see if it will start. If it tries to start, have a helper spray some more WD 40 in while cranking. This should help to clear out the air in the lines. Let us know what happens.

Ok it's kind of hard to explain, the glow plug is tight and as far as I know, no it's not lose and leaking compression, it's just the hex part of it that you put the socket on to get it out, I don't understand how that could happen, but basicly when you put the socket on the hex it doesn't grip it just spins around like it's not on the hex, I can actually turn the hex with my fingers, it's become independent of the rest of the plug. I do have a test light I got at walmart sometime ago, I will hook it up to the plugs to make sure they are not grounding. I will let you know what happens after I have it all straightened out.
Thanks