low compression
 

been told that the compression in my 2.2 is low specially in the second cylinder does this mean i nedd a top end rebuild many thanks brian

You want to check it in comparison to the other 5 and that will let you know. There can be guides needed or cutting the faces of the valve or just a carbon build up on the valve face keeping it from closing completely.
If the engine is on the floor, any numbers would be suspect without running it through several heat cycles.
Bruce

reply
 

hi bruce the engine is in the car the rest of the cylinders are low but the number 2 is alot lower than the rest any advice would be great

What are the numbers?

And what altitude do you live at?

You really need to do a leak-down test to diagnose the problem. With a leak-down, you can listen for the source of the leak and get a much better idea where the problem is.