Compression Test Question

Be shocked if it costs more than a standard diagnostic charge - generally around $85. Many shops can do a test for low cost, sometimes for free. $35 is definitely pretty cheap - though it is a fairly simple test. $150 - that is a little on the outrageous side unless they bundle that with some other services (oil testing, leakdown test, etc.). For about $60 - you can buy the tools yourself and test the compression. For considerably less - you could rent tools and do it yourself. Lots of DIY guides online to do a simple compression test.

That said - 1 quart makeup oil in 800 miles - not a good sign. You can sitting right on the line on where Toyota considers that excessive consumption, though most owners here feel that any more than a quart per oil change interval (3000-5000 miles) is too much.

Compression test can tell you if it is "likely" the rings or seals - cannot definitely tell until you, until you tear the engine down. But for most owners - that test will be more than enough to make a decision to either fix or dump the car.

Primarily - it will tell you the pressures that can be generated in each cylinder during the test. A baseline number. Depending on what you find there - you can opt to do a wet test - where they squirt in a little oil and retest compression. If compression improves after adding oil to the cylinder - you've likely got bad rings. If no change - possibly bad seals. Will not know without doing a leak down test. Sort of a compression test - but they make sure the valves are closes and pressurize the cylinder with air. They measure how long that particular cylinder holds air. If it leaks and doesn't hold air - it is likely a bad valve seal or damage valve seat/damage valve.

Some shops do an electronic compression test - where they spin the engine and measure the slight variations in engine revolutions. From that - they can do a little math and reproduce results very similar to a physical compression test. Difference is in the amount of time it takes to do the test - physical testing, depends on the tech - could be 30 minutes to an hour+. Electronic test, if they have the equipment, matter of a couple of minutes.

Are the tools required to test compression heavy enough to dent the top of the fender if rested on it? I have a couple dents after my compression test that weren't there beforehand. I know the mechanic had a load of quarters in his front pocket along with screw driver bits that fell out into my seat without him knowing it which could have caused the dents when leaning over the fenders too.

Possibly, but you'd have to either press them into the fender or bang them into them. Just their static weight won't be enough. Drives me crazy at some of these shops - they supposed to place a fender cover on the car before working on it. Not all shops do it, those that don't usually end up scratch or denting the car - sometimes pretty badly.

I've all but given up on trying to protect my car at this point - not worth the hassle or time. I'll just reshoot the paint on my car down the road.

Fish

You said just what I want to find out. I want to do a compression test on the 07 Camry to find out if it's the rings or seals leaking.

Then I want to see how much it will cost to fix it. Because right now I am just adding oil.

It is my mothers car and she keeps asking me how soon do you think I need a new car.

I guess like you said but I do not know the compression test is deciding fact on how fast you need a car.

If you are potentially going to get a new car - I'd just keep adding oil and keeping an eye on the oil levels. I'd also switch to a high mileage motor oil in a 5w-30 or 0w-30 grade - though at this point, sounds like it is too late.

If you plan on keeping the car for several years / run it into the ground - more than likely looking at an engine rebuild or engine swap at this point. Which one is likely going to hinted at by the compression and leak down testing and subsequent partial teardown to confirm the diagnosis.

Just like it sounds - you generally find a low mileage, known working engine to "swap" in place with your existing engine. In some cases, faster and less expensive than trying to rebuild an existing engine. Given the number of the 2.4L 2AZ-FE out there in the wild - the chance of finding a clean, good running example for relatively low cost is pretty good. I could actually get a 2007 2.4L 2AZ-FE engine for less money (almost half the cost) than a 2003 1.8L 2ZZ-GE engine. Of course the 2ZZ-GE is highly sought after for its aftermarket potential and the 2AZ-FE have a bad reputation for oil consumption.

That depends on what they find on the teardown. Even if it is just the rings and/or valve seals - you could be still looking at an easy $500-$1000 in parts and labor. Last time I checked the prices of 2AZ-FE - a lightly used example (longblock) - was running about $600. Rebuilt ones with a reman warranty were going for $1500-$2000 + labor. Brand new engines were anywhere from $2400-$3500 + labor.

If it was my car - if the oil consumption was a quart in less than 1000 miles, no matter what oil I used. I would trade it in and get another car. To often, I've seen the new piston rings, valve seals, replaced in an older motor only to have the oil consumption return in a year or two, Some cases, the oil consumption only slowed and not stopped - some actually got worse. Even with engine swaps - you may end up with an engine turns into an oil consumer, even though it didn't have any signs of it initially.

Much of this heartache, in my opinion, is from poor QC during manufacturing and assembly, as not all engines in the series show this susceptibility to oil consumption. Same thing happened with the early 8th gen 1ZZ-FE engines, piston and piston ring design changes in the 9th gen seemed to have fixed them, but even some 9th gens are showing signs of excessive oil consumption. With the Toyota corporate 2AZ-FE - it was a known issue, especially prevalent with the Scion name brand.

This is not new to the industry - VW/Audi had terrible oil consumption issues on their 2.0T tubocharged mills. Chrysler cars had a history of oil consumption - Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes, etc. Almost every car company had some sort of oil consumption - some cars, it was made that way (think Mazda rotary engines). Just looks worse for Toyota as they have this image of being bulletproof and 100% reliable. Maybe back when everyone else was having issues - Toyota looked great, but they were far from "perfect".

Still - even with a known oil consumption issue - I still bought a 2009 Matrix XRS with the same 2.4L 2AZ-FE engine that your mother's Camry has. Right now, mine consumes about 1/2 quart every 5000 miles - has about 70K miles on it now. These were like the early 1ZZ-FE engines - consumes a little oil all the time, then BOOM - completely out of oil. As long as I monitor it closely and top off low oil levels ASAP (I always carry a quart of oil with me, at the very least, check everything time I fill up the tank) - I don't have any doubts I could take this car out to 200K miles easily.

That is completely up to you. That last post was my opinion only, given if it was for my car. I didn't imply that this should be YOUR course of action.

There are a lot of things that still need to be weighed - cost of ownership of new car, cost of fix old car, changes in insurance costs, total operating costs, depreciation, influence of warranty, personal taxes (depends on where you live at), etc.

As I mentioned, if it was MY car, I would absolutely do a compression test, just to see where the numbers were at. Anyway you go - fix old car or replace with a new/newer car, it will be a costly decision, and I would like to exhaust all my other options first, figure out the state of engine health to judge its value at time of trade in / personal sale as well.

But I also know, given MY maintenance schedule and what I know about this particular engine family - if I had "owned" this car and it drank a quart an oil in less than 1000 miles - I would junk it in a heartbeat. I wouldn't have the time to try and fix this issue give our current work schedule and I know that I can cover the costs of associated with a new car. Like they say - time is money.

Fish what years do the vw turbos have oil burn? I've been seriously considering the 2014 Jetta GLI after test driving it. Nice sport suspension to carve corners and 6spd auto with manual tap shift and 220hp for sporty passing, plus the interior is real nice with good ergonomics and a sd card slot for the nice sounding 400wt radio too which is a neat since the songs and menus load faster on them than radios that use usb disks.

Oil consumption affected both the 1.8L and 2.0L turbos - varies significantly, from a couple of ounces over a 10K mile interval to guzzling 1 quart every 1000 miles.

I think they made significant design changes in mid-2008 that might have "solved" this issue (move from FSI to "supposedly" improved TSI engine design - same injection strategy, different name - but many parts were redesigned on the newer engine).

That Jetta should be pretty solid. I've been pretty impressed with their latest offerings - will mean that I'll have to expand the toolbox if I pick one up, even basic VAG maintenance requires special service tools. I'm holding out for Toyota or Lexus to come out with a turbo diesel offering, like they do overseas. If not - the next car will likely not be a Toyota. Subarus are also on my list as well as potential possibilities - same as the VWs, Subarus previous headgasket failures that plagues earlier models seemed to been "fixed" in their latest offerings.

Fish

Thanks again for the info. You are a good friend. When I have compression test done I will let you know results

Thanks again Frank

No worries! That why forums such as these exist on the web. Owners helping each other out with pretty much any question. Just wanted to make sure you didn't take my advice as gospel truth. Just throwing hopefully useful nuggets of information out there. With enough information - you could make a pretty solid decision and feel confident in doing so - and it will be your decision in the end.