03 Ion Coupe- Crank No Start - 90 psi/4
 

Well, I posted this at Saturnfans, but I'm not getting much response, and I know there are some good guys here....

My sister has an 03 Ion... crank no start....

Went to start it this morning, started and ran real rough for 3-4 seconds, then quit and wouldn't restart.

Fuel pressure good, AC/signal present at ignition module, switched out ignition modules with no change. Security light is not on. No engine codes.

Cranked over fine, sounded slightly different, as if compression was low.

Compression test was 90 PSI in each cylinder. (abnormally low, all equal)

I'm guessing that the previous owner never replaced the timing components, and that the chain is broke or jumped or something... does that diagnosis sound correct?

Well, chain is still present, and looks tight. It looks to have been replaced at some point in the past as the colored links are red and green, not factory copper and silver. The camshafts seem to be timed to each other, no way (that I can see) to tell if the crankshaft is in time with them.

What we did tonight:
Used a leakdown tester to pressurize each cylinder individually while we had the valve cover off.
Turned the engine over by hand while watching to make sure the lobes of both cams were not pushing the valves down.

For each cylinder, pressures remained in the red (serious leak) during multiple hand-cranked revolutions of the crankshaft. At no point did the pressures reach even moderate leak levels.

I am going to say that this means that the valves are probably bent on all 4 cylinders? Is this common for this engine?
Could it be a head gasket leak between all 4 cylinders?
Any other ideas? I wish it was an easy fix, but with valves not seating properly, it seems that this is going to be an expensive/time-consuming repair.

could be the timing chain that got stretched ot jumped a teeth... i think that it was common on the 02-03 ecotec engines but I'm not an ecotec guru... head gasket leak between all the 4 cylinders at the same time is pretty much impossible... 90 psi is way too low... does this engine overheated ??

Engine ran fine, until Monday morning.

Sunday morning the car had to be moved a short distance.
Monday she had to go to class.
She jumped in, started it, it ran rough/stumbled bad for 2-3 seconds, then quit, and wouldn't restart.

No overheating at all, to my knowledge.

um well for one, when you check cylinder pressure you should pull all the plugs, then have someone get in it and turn the key, you aren't gonna see the correct numbers by turning the crank by hand, second, check the rocker arm spacing against the valves, my civic was running like shit because the valves simply weren't adjusted properly, i know it may sound extreme for the situation, but its worth a shot before you replace them

:)
Compression was checked the proper way.
And you are saying that the rocker arm might have mis-adjusted itself somehow?

it does happen, how long ago was that torn apart? cause they might not have re-tightened the nuts if it was ever adjusted, I know its not likely, but it is possible, or it could be that they are just worn, although that's even less likely if it happened so suddenly. but still just something to look at before you throw money at parts, all I'm sayin

Well, they look good. Good thought though, thanks.

I'm afraid this one is going to need some work.

Just when life was at its maximum busy-ness... it just gets busier...