If I buy a compression tester gauge deal from Autozone, how exactly do I go about testing the compression? Is it easy or should I just pay the 60 bucks or whatever it is to have a shop do it?

 

Like this......As for the compression test, you first run all the cylinders in the normal fashion (all plugs out, coil disabled, choke and throttle held full open, crank each cylinder until max pressure reached, record each cylinder's pressure, etc.). That's the dry test. Then, you put a tablespoon or so of oil in the cylinders through the spark plug holes, turn the engine over a few times to spread it around the cylinder, and then repeat the compression test. If the rings are worn, the oil will tend to enhance the seal and raise the compression pressure significantly from the dry test. You have to do both in order for the wet test to have any meaning. If the dry test numbers are close cylinder-to-cylinder and where they should be (say 150 psi), and no significant change to the dry test, then everything's fine. If the dry test is low and the wet test is low, then you have valve sealing problems.

Hope this helps............

 

...or valve TIMING problems, or head sealing problems, or a few other possibilities.

 

Please forgive my ignorance..... but what do you mean by "run all the cylinders" and "crank each cylinder " ?