I just ran a compression check on my 85 740 Non-Turbo B230F. I used a hand-held gauge (with the rubber-cone at the end) after removing ALL the spark-plugs. The engine had only been run about 2 minutes (so it was not HOT - like the FAQs indicate it should be... Also - didn't open the throttle wide while testing. Only read the FAQs article after the test unfortunately). I used the pink-lead on the Left-side strut-tower to power the starter (thanks Fitz!), and had a sore thumb at the end of the entire test from pushing that gauge as hard as I could into the spark-plug hole.

I ran 3 compression tests on each cylinder and averaged them out:

Cylinder 1: 178 psi (175, 180, 180)
Cylinder 2: 181 psi (177, 185, 180)
Cylinder 3: 176 psi (177, 175, 177)
Cylinder 4: 183 psi (182, 182, 185)

I was expecting them to be around 160 psi max, so was wondering: are these results okay or do I have excess pressure ? And if I do, should I perform a carbon-deposit cleanup ? What are the symptoms of excess pressure ?

OR: was the procedure I used wrong, and is it important to perform it on a hot engine (though that's going to be difficult with a handheld-gauge).

Thanks !

Noel