Evo 9 MR, mostly stock, 120k miles on it, bought last year.

Have barely gotten to drive it as I've been dealing with a blown strut, a broken turbo stud, then a broken exhaust manifold stud. Now it's in the shop and they did a compression and leakdown test and the results are:

- Cyl #1 75 / 25% Int
- Cyl #2 85 / 25% Int
- Cyl #3 80 / 20% Int
- Cyl #4 80 / 25% Int

I had a test done before I bought it, don't remember the numbers, but they were allegedly normal. Hopefully I'll get them soon. The car was 23k, I spent 9k at the shop before I picked it up, spent a few thousand on coilovers and other parts fixing stuff myself, now I'm facing a 4k head rebuild and I've only gotten to drive the car a handful of times. Also, the car developed a third gear grind which I suspect is the synchro. I suppose I could cough up the money and have a 120k mile Evo for $40k, but I'm not sure if I am just sunk cost fallacy-ing myself at this point. Feeling very defeated and looking for suggestions.

 

Here is the invoice for the rebuild for reference

 

Sorry about your evo issues. I have a low ROI with mine too.
Does the low compression give you problems? like passing smog or needing a catch can?

 

I passed smog when I brought the car in state, and haven't driven it enough to notice a need for a catch can. However, if I'm understanding correctly, such low numbers would have a significant impact on performance and would probably cause misfires. After I did my work I had the car towed to the shop so that people with more experience could look it over prior to it turning on, so it's been months since I've actually gotten to drive it or even turn it on.

 

Also, does anyone have an idea as to what those numbers might point to the problem being? Assuming the numbers were fine before it sat for a few months. I've done some searching on other people's low compression numbers and mine are some of the lowest I'm able to find.

 

maybe compression leaks at the valve seals isn't that bad when the motor is actually running. unless youre experiencing problems then I would just save to get a full rebuild when it comes time and get everything inspected and/or replaced.
what was the 9k for?

 

You don't think leaving it as is could just cause more problems down the road? I'm worried about cheaping out right now and causing myself more of a headache in the near future. If I understand correctly then 130-140 is good compression, and anything above 20% for leakdown is quite bad.

Here's the list. It was at a different shop. Pretty sure I got ****ed here, but it is what it is.

 

theres a bit of nonsense and a whole lot of DIY items in that list! IMO you should have tackled them by yourself, depending on the order of urgency (IF its really causing you problems)
IMO the worst "damage" is if you have to pay for labor over and over again. water pump, oi pump, oil pan leak, unscheduled oil changes because you need to drain fluids to work on other stuff, ect
unlike other things that would break, low compression would not get you stranded somewhere if it gets worse
for the trans we normally just sent it to the experts and get them refreshed. good time to inspect the clutch, fix oil leaks at the back of the engine, replace engine mounts etc timing the fixes would save you quite a bit

 

Definitely would have, but I bought the car out of state and had to drive it back so I paid a local shop to do it before I picked it up.

Thanks a ton for your input, I'll think about it some more and discuss it with the shop.