twowheelhorse

Thanks for the replys guys. Well I did a compression check on the engine, and my worst fears are realized. #3 cylinder has no compression. It is not just down on compression, but actually has none. Won't even move the gauge a little bit. The other 3 cylinders range from 170 to 180#. Looks like the engine is coming out and the head removed to see what is going on. If this thing wasn't so nice otherwise, I wouldn't bother, but I can't just knock it in the head. It deserves to be fixed.

New Venture owner here. I just purchased a 84 Venture. It has 36K on it and is cosmetically in great shape. The problem is that #3 cylinder is oiling out the exhaust.....alot. So much so that it will eventually foul the plug. Goes without saying that it smokes terribly. The kicker here is that it won't start smoking until the engine has been running for 2 or 3 minutes. I would think that if it were rings, that it would start smoking at startup. I am wondering if I have a cracked head, possibly near a valve guide that the crack opens up as the head heats up. Anyone have any opinions on this? BTW, great site. Lots of great info here.