1981 chevy malibu question about spark plugs and running rich

i just came in from messing with the car i checked the rocker for the piston with no compression and after losening it up and doing another compression test it jump to the 140 no longer reads 0 and i was just about to start pulling the head.

There is a procedure for tightening the rockers on this engine. If the rockers were overtightened, there is the danger that damage was done to the camshaft and the valves. That should be checked.

You should run a wet test on the cylinder that is now 140 because unless the cam profile has something to do with it that figure is still way low.

You’ve got cylinders at near 160 so the 140 is way of spec in comparison. My feeling still is that you should run a wet test on a few of the higher pressure ones and see what happens.

It still seems to me that you’re going about this in a convoluted way and I still think this engine has serious issues.

any one no how to adjust valve lash on the rocker while running, how farr do u tightern it after u hear the rocker starting to tap its a hydraulic flat tapped cam

XE268H, 12-242-2 its a comp cam

the rockers are stock rockers

3/4 to 1 turn after tapping stops. 1/4 turn at a time. I would run it like I was breaking it in. Then recheck compression. Did get new plugs? I would not run those at all.

ok today i re adjusted the rockers using the running method and turned it 1/4 after clattering stops. and the numbers are totally diffrent here they are.

  1. 131 7. 135
  2. 135 5. 135
  3. 135 3. 130
  4. 130 1. 95

im going to do a wet test on the number one cylinder should i do the others or do they look ok. and yes that plug still has oil on it. all others didnt. im still running the bosch plus 4 just untill i figure out whats wrong or should i run diffrent plugs and then retest

Those numbers all suck and especially Number 1. Yes, you should wet test them all.
My opinion is still the same. I think this motor has serious problems and if someone told you it was “rebuilt” it’s quite possible it could have been a bad rebuild, a good rebuild that was immediately thrashed, or someone was flat lying about the whole thing.

i wet tested 1 and 3

1 went to 110
3 went to 139

so push come to shove what am i lookin at rings maybe valves head gasket. if i change all these will i be good

here are some pix’s of the number one head and valve and cylinder/piston

the other one with oil on it is the number 7 but it didnt look anything like number one

what do yall think

It’s difficult for me to tell from the pics exactly what is going on with this motor but offhand I could see a few potential problems.
The caked valve stem in the one pic could point to a valve seal or valve guide problem.

I also note that the cylinder walls do not look too good, or at least near as I can tell from the pics. Bad crosshatch job or a good crosshatch gone wrong I’d say.

Normally with a wet test you might see the numbers jump up more than that but even 15 PSI could point to rings and possibly a valve seating problem. With the spark plug in place on Number 1 on the cylinder head, set the head up level and fill the combustion chamber with (preferably) alcohol and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Note if you see any alcohol seeping out through the exhaust or intake ports.

A general rule of thumb on checking valve guide fit can be done even if you do not have tools like micrometers, indicators, etc.
With the valve spring removed, pull the valve you’re going to check partially out until the end of the stem is even with the guide. Hole a fingtertip tightly against the top of the guide/valve stem, and then quickly yank the valve out of the guide. If the fit is correct you should hear a very noticeable “pop” sound. If there is no pop or not much of one then the valve guide is worn out.

I hope some of that helps anyway and good luck with this.