leak down tester

[cvincer]

Bought a leak down tester.   Connected everything up as per the instructions.   The  'leak down' gauge did not move 1mm,

& couldn't hear any leaking air indicating that  valves / bores / cylinder head gasket on an  '82 Vision with 80K kilometers

on the clock was better than new!     C'mon, let's get real.

Inspection of the hose length that screws into the spark plug hole shows it had a    schrader valve    in it, stopping air from

the device going into the cylinder.

Can anyone advise how the device is supposed to work with a   schrader  valve  in there?

[Rikugun]

Try removing the Schrader valve and see how it works. A similar hose is included with their compression testers and may have been incorrectly included in the kit.

[Re-Vision]

Looks to me that the Schrader valve is like putting air into a tire, put whatever pressure you want into the cylinder and then measure the pressure over time for the amount of leakdown. Schrader valve should stop air from leaking out of sparkplug hole.     BDC


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leak-down_tester

[motoracer8]

 I have a MAC brand leak down tester similar to what you have.  The hose from the gauges to the engine does not have a valve.

One gauge should show incoming air pressure, the other the percentage of leakage. Anything under 10% with a warm engine is pretty good.

I also have a compression gauge and the hose has a Schrader valve just like the one in the photo.

They may use the same hose for both devices.

Ken

[fret not]

Maybe there is an instruction pamphlet in the case somewhere.  If not, does the manufacturer have a web site?

Not all things that should be obvious actually are. ;)

[lexx790]

Does the kit have a dual use, one for leak testing the cylinder and also a compression tester.
Compression testers have a one way valve in.
Leak testing doesn't need a one way valve but a lock in valve.

[cvincer]

The 'kit' only comes with 1 adapter hose,  no instruction pamphlet,  think I've tracked down the Chinese manufacturer on the

web but can't find a pamphlet on their site.   Have written to the  eBay seller  asking if they have had a  'valve'  query in the

past.   I'll  take out  the  valve  at the weekend, hitch everything up again & see what results I get.    If the valve had been

positioned so that as air leaked out of the engine cylinder, the device allowed more into the cylinder, thus allowing the amount

of leakage to be measured  .........  I would have understood the function of the valve.

[Rikugun]

instruction manual pdf:
http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/94000-94999/94190.pdf

HF website reviews. Apparently some confusion with this unit relative to others people are familiar with. Namely input pressure is internally capped at 15 psi. Also be sure and "zero" the gage per the instructions.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cylinder-leak-down-tester-94190.html

[cvincer]

So I got a bit of time today, removed the  schrader valve & tried the device;  it worked & gave about  30%  on each cylinder (hot engine).

No air leakage heard via the carb or exhaust, only the oil fill hole ....... so the bores/rings  are worn  (doesn't seem to use any oil between oil changes though ....every 1500 miles).

A year or so ago I somehow stuffed up the cam timing on the front cylinder (engine locked up when I pressed the start button), & after doing things again the engine started easily, idled beautifully, but it didn't have the same v-twin sound, the exhaust was louder & it no longer came on cam at about 6000rpm ..... just pulled hard in  linear acceleration.   Buying the leak down tester was my way of finding out if the valves were actually sealing, when the cam timing mark on the flywheel was in line with the mark on the crankcase cover.

The tester shown in Rikguns link looks exactly like mine, but without the  'Harbor'  label.    My ebay auction purchase $2.25 + $20 postage.

Thanks to all for the replies.
.

[dingleberry]

Thats a great deal. Got a link to seller?

[cvincer]

Just type  'leak down tester'   in      www.ebay.com.au      and look for the supplier    ty-roadster   in   'Auctions'.

The postage (courier)  was from   the Australian eastern seaboard to the Australian  western seaboard