i recently bought a 96 blazer 4x4, the idle was way off. as i am not a mechanic, i took it to a shop where they did a compression test. cylinder 1 has half the needed compression...(can't remember the #'s). am i able to fix the one bad cylinder, or should i just rebuild the engine. could it just be full of carbon?

 

meh. sounds like a rebuild needs to happen. BUT if you wanna take your chances you can pour some "seafoam" in the cylinder till it leaks out the hole and let it set for a few hours. Pull the wire off the coil and turn the engine over with the plug out until it blows the seafoam out. ,reinsert the plug,start it up and let it run for a minute. then change the oil.

See if it helps. if so,drive it and call it done. (but start saving money just incase)

 

compression test showed cylinders 2-6 at 170,.....cylinder 1 at 100. was suggested to me it could be a bad valve. any thoughts?