car started skipping last night checked and there is no compresion in #4
could it be a valve? there was some oil in the small breathers

Guage Needle doesn't move? could be valve(s), piston or rings

Drain the oil too see if any peices of metal is in the oil. That may be a sign of rings or piston.

Hey Eric, it sounds to me like you got a valve hung open. All your compression in that cylinder is going out the exhaust!

If it would be rings the engine would be smoking or pushing oil out the breathers. Same for a cracked piston. You either have a bent or leaking valve or valve seat. It is also possible you have a broken valve spring where it won't pull the valve shut. What ever it is it isn't a good story..... I would recommend taking it apart because even if it is a broken valve spring the valve probably hit the piston and is bent. Good Luck Craig DeSantis

all fixed . the valves tightened up. dont know why but had to reshim the valves
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Hmm sounds like you are setting the valves closer than spec, but another answer could be carbon build up or the valve is starting to tulip or stretch from running at max revs for extended lengths of time. It is tough getting the valve clearance exactly perfect too!

It's not uncommon for valves to tighten up over a long period of time. What it is telling you is that you need a valve job to reseat the valves. When you start with a fresh valve job the valve seats in the head are very narrow. Over time the valves pound the seats and they get wider. This allows the valve to seat farther into the seat and you lose not only clearance on your lash adjustment, you lose valve spring pressure as well. Also wide valve seats don't seal very good. Your engine probably won't miss at lower RPMs, but might miss at higher RPMs and that could be valve spring float. So be careful when you run not to float the valve springs at high RPM's because you can lose the valve keepers and it's ugly from there.....Good Luck!! Craig DeSantis