How can I tell if my engine has compression? I'm working on trying to get my car started and when i tried to start it with my civic's battery the needle on the tach would twitch up slightly. I pulled a spark plug today and tried to start it to see if it is getting any spark and i got a totally differen sound when it turned over. When i tried to start it the needle on the tach bounced around 1K and went all the way up to 2K when i was trying to start it. I put the plug back in and it did the same thing. It was hella colder this time and i used my dad's tractor battery instead of my car's battery. I'm afraid i screwed my engine up. Please help!



CP

 

the tach is supposed to bounce, that tells you the ignition works. if you want to check for comression pull the bottom 2 sparkplugs out and in the little fuse block by the battery pull out the "btn" fuse. crank the engine you should hear steady whooshes



mike