Joel D Shortlidge wrote:
>
>
>         Also my brother tested the compression on his '87 Syncro.  He followed
> all the directions for the tester and it read 90 psi, 90psi, 80,
> 84!!!!!!!  he got these same #'s three times!  No wonder it is so %#%$%#@
>  SLOW!!!  I can't belive it even RUNS!!!  The BIG book says between
> 184psi and 140 MIN!!  This engine block has 150,000 miles on it, it was
> rebuilt professionaly by a local VW guru 40,000 miles ago!  It does not
> burn a drop of oil or coolant and starts and runs fine!  It just doesn't
> have any real power, but it will do 70 mph on a flat away.  So what do
> you think? valves? rings? bad reading?
>         I will e-mail once the shaft is installed.
>
> PS. E-mail me directly I am off the list right now!
>
>
Joel
was the compression test done hot or cold try it both ways. this could
be a low reading gauge but try treating the lifters as if they where non
hydraulic give them .006 ths clearance. run the engine that way for a
few days then redo the compression test I have seen engines that loose
power when they warm up. when the lifters  where backed off the engine
came back to life the rpm went up at idle I have an article on my page
about hydraulic lifters
http://www.bostonengine.com
Bob Donalds