I went to look at a partially-disassembled Vanagon yesterday to use for its
engine in my tired '85. The parts van ('90 with auto trans and 2.1)) had a
lot removed, including the computer, distributor, and battery. I wanted to
do a compression test on it- the starter and transmission were still
connected. I hooked up jumper cables- positive on my battery to the big
terminal on the parts van starter; negative on my battery to the
transmission on the parts van; and a jumper wire from the big starter
terminal to the spade terminal on the solenoid. Each time I wanted to crank
the engine, I held the terminal onto my positive battery terminal.

I got readings of between 80 and 90 psi on each cylinder. The results I got
seemed too low to be accurate, so I was wondering if there was something
else in the situation that could cause results so low. Obviously the engine
had not been at operating temp before the test was done, but I couldn't
control that. The starter did crank slowly, but I let it turn over enough
until the gauge didn't rise any more.

The owner said the engine had run fine and had power on the highway. I
suppose that you can get up to highway speeds even with low compression,
albeit very slowly. But would it even start and run with compression so low?

I wanted this engine to put in my '85. I could take the whole van 9what's
left of it) for a decent price and maybe part out the rest of it, but I
really wanted it for the engine.

Thanks for any advice,
Ed in CT