The engine wanted to start easier at the 10 degree setting but it took awhile to warm up and idle. (block off plates installed) once idling the tappets sounded equal off the valve covers (screw driver trick) and I placed a paper towel over the oil fill tube and it pulsated up and down a slight bit. No continuous suck down or blow out. Not sure if that is what you mean by flapping it only moved about 1/8 " up and down. Thanks

PVC valve it brand new and functioning well. I must admit that I am a true greenhorn rookie on this stuff. I did a compression check over the weekend and I now have two guys saying I did it right and wrong. I unhooked the fuel line to carb and routed to gas can under the coach. I undid the wiring to eliminate the distributor from sparking. This is where I went wrong perhaps. Staring with number 1 cylinder I threaded in the tester (all 7 plugs remained in place}and tapped the key for 5 seconds of engine cranking and the dial went from 30/60/95 lbs. Then turned off the ignition. Have been told that it should just take a tap or bump on the ignition and get a high reading from the beginning. This is my first time doing this. All cylinders registered 90-95 pounds and jumping in sequence of 30/60/90+ in the cranking. I did not have the throttle opened in carb. All plugs where in engine except the cylinder I was checking. Where am I going wrong???? Anyway, thanks a bunch and I'll try and try again!

Ken has described the exact way to do a compression check, no ifs, ands, or buts. I don't care what anybody else tells you, that's the way I learned how to do it 47 years ago. And I have had plenty of "mechanics" tell me that some or all of those steps are not necessary...THEY ARE WRONG. Do it the way Ken said and check for differences between cylinders. If you still only get 90 pounds of compression across the board, you have a cam timing problem or the engine is worn out. 90 lbs is good for a lawn mower or maybe a 2 cycle engine. Automotive engines should be 150 or better, less than 120 is poor.
One step Ken didn't mention is the ring seal test that you do after taking the first dry reading. If a cylinder is suspect, or all of them are low, squirt a shot of oil into the cylinder(no more than a teaspoon), spin the engine for just 1 second and repeat the compression test on that cylinder. Only oil one at a time. If the reading goes up more than 10%, the rings are worn and the oil is making the seal instead.

Let's not forget how this discussion started--this is not an autopsy over a dead engine. The question was whether it is common to hear noises through the oil filler tube. The engine may be worn but the quest was whether there is an internal failure and one of the cylinders may have problems. Everything I read here is that yes, you can hear noises through the oil intake, and yes all the cylinders seem to be balanced, and no there is not an internal failure, and no there is not excessive blow by. Pretty soon we'll have this guy pulling the engine when nothing is wrong.

Bob de Kruyff wrote on Mon, 07 July 2014 22:37

Let's not forget how this discussion started--this is not an autopsy over a dead engine. The question was whether it is common to hear noises through the oil filler tube. The engine may be worn but the quest was whether there is an internal failure and one of the cylinders may have problems. Everything I read here is that yes, you can hear noises through the oil intake, and yes all the cylinders seem to be balanced, and no there is not an internal failure, and no there is not excessive blow by. Pretty soon we'll have this guy pulling the engine when nothing is wrong.

Maybe just suggest checking the timing chain/gears. Any 455 in the range of 100,000 miles should probably have them replaced as preventive maintenance.