[T3] One cylinder dead-not firing-#3

[Tony Rongey]

As others have mentioned already, zero compression sounds really odd, but maybe that's just your mechanic's way of saying "not enough compression to matter".
$1200 seems way out of line.  You can almost get a complete rebuilt long block for that.  You can definitely pick up a running used engine for less.
Is it the end?  That's pretty much up to you.  These engines are built so that every part is replaceable, and until you get to the T3 specific part like the cooling tins and FI parts they're all readily available.
I just replaced that same head on my car last weekend.  Dropped the engine Friday afternoon, swapped the head Saturday afternoon, and put the engine back in Sunday afternoon.  If I hadn't had so many interruptions it would have been running Monday morning, but I had to finish up Monday evening.  It wasn't fun, it wasn't easy, but it was definitely doable, and unless you live in Antarctica there's probably a VW club in your town that's full of people who would love to help out.

Good Luck,
Tony
'70 Fastback AT/FI daily driver


________________________________
 From: John L. Morgan IV <emailjohnmorgan at gmail.com>
To: "type3 at vwtype3.org" <type3 at vwtype3.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 3:31 PM
Subject: Re: [T3] One cylinder dead-not firing-#3
 

valve three has 0 compression after a compression test.
estimate was $1200 for a valve job, but not recommended on
an old engine.
could it be getting 0 compression if a simple injector cable
is bad?
this may be the end. anyone have any recs here?
thanks


On Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 2:52 PM, Tony Rongey <trongey at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> If it's fuel injected then there's about a 99% chance that one of the
> little wires to the injector is broken.  That's the first thing I look for
> any time my car isn't running right.
> If you've recently had your hands in that area (messing with spark plugs,
> fuel hose, etc.) then it's about a 199% chance.
>
> Tony
> '70 Fastback AT/FI daily driver
>
> From: John L. Morgan IV <emailjohnmorgan at gmail.com>
> To: "type3 at vwtype3.org" <type3 at vwtype3.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 12:15 PM
> Subject: [T3] One cylinder dead-not firing-#3
>
>
> could this be a computer issue...and/or
> compression?
> Any help is appreciated.
> Thanks,
> JMorgan
> Richmond, VA
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.vwtype3.org/pipermail/type3-vwtype3.org/attachments/20140121/26b9b811/attachment.htm
> >
> _______________________________________________
> VWType3.Org mailing list - type3 at vwtype3.org
> http://lists.vwtype3.org/listinfo.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org
> Contact gregm at vwtype3.org if you need help with the list.
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.vwtype3.org/pipermail/type3-vwtype3.org/attachments/20140121/25915e9e/attachment.htm
> >
> _______________________________________________
> VWType3.Org mailing list - type3 at vwtype3.org
> http://lists.vwtype3.org/listinfo.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org
> Contact gregm at vwtype3.org if you need help with the list.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.vwtype3.org/pipermail/type3-vwtype3.org/attachments/20140121/f97c7695/attachment.htm>
_______________________________________________
VWType3.Org mailing list - type3 at vwtype3.org
http://lists.vwtype3.org/listinfo.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org
Contact gregm at vwtype3.org if you need help with the list.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.vwtype3.org/pipermail/type3-vwtype3.org/attachments/20140121/07e8d891/attachment.htm>