In taking out the spark plugs to run the compression tests, the plug in the #1 cylinder broke. Supposedly, someone had used too much force installing it and had cracked the body, so the spark plug broke readily when removal was attempted- they showed me pieces of parts with rust at the fracture point and carbon on the porcelain- so I bought the story.

Attempts at removal of the debris were conducted. I was told over the phone that they had hand cranked the motor and did not encounter any clearance issues, but when the motor got turned over there was a noticeable wrist-pin knock so we agreed that the head needed to be pulled - my $95 diagnostic had grown into a three-day $1200 debacle.

(I did get the oil changed, a new air filter, belts, alternator bushings and new spark plugs, but they gave it back to me without having reset the service indicator, I had to go back and ask for that.)

They noted that when they did get compression and leakage measurements, the #1 and #6 cylinders were rather high leakage, but all 6 had very good compression, so they figured everything was OK.

There were a few other items touched upon during this ordeal, link to them here.

If I had taken it in prior to purchase and this had occurred, I presume that the issue would have been between the previous owner and the shop, however, since I chose not to follow that advise, I realized there was little choice other than to pay - probably to have the head removed- in order to drive my car out of there, so I was cooperative and agreed for whatever steps they advised as this went on.

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