Recently bought a 88 Honda Prelude HELP!!!!!

[YellowJack]

Hey guys, I bought a 88 Honda Prelude as my first car and as I was checking it out going through some stuff, I found out that cylinder 3 has low compression.
Is it fine to drive as is until I get the fund to rebuild the motor/Buy another engine, or does this have to be fixed right away. Thanks!!!

[Oldblueaccord]

Could last a day,could last a month,could last a year hard to say.

On the cheap try a new spark plug and wire.

[Dr_Snooz]

Is it fine to drive as is until I get the fund to rebuild the motor/Buy another engine, or does this have to be fixed right away. Thanks!!!

It depends on what's wrong and on how much roughness and blue smoke you (or the smog authorities in your area) can stand. You can run a tired engine for a very, very, veeeeerrryy long time if you're careful. If you go drag racing every weekend, you can devastate a brand new engine in no time. A leak-down test and vacuum gauge diagnosis can do a lot to help you figure out what's wrong.

How low is the compression? Are you having any rough-running, knocking, smoke, overheating, etc.? Those are your real warning signs that time is short.