Originally Posted by AsleepAltima

anyone that says a ka24de is not worth fixing doesnt know what they are talking about and anyone that tells you to "just swap in" some other motor, shouldnt even be looking at your car. the ka is a very reliable, torquey engine that will last for a very long time if you take care of it. to do a compression check you only need basic tools and a compression tester. you remove all four spark plug wires and then the spark plugs. remove the connector on the side of your distributor and install the tester into one of the cylinders where the spark plug goes. the hardest part would probably be choosing the correct end to use on the tester. you just use the one that looks the closest to your spark plugs. after you screw the end of the hose into the cylinder, you bump the ignition several times and read what comes up on the gauge. you do this for each cylinder and then you note the results. you shouldnt have more than 25 psi difference between any of the cylinders. ill explain more once you get the tester and decide to do it yourself. on a scale of 1-10, id give this job, MAYBE a 4.