1990 Honda Accord Question: Is a bad cylinder the end of an engine?

Thanks for the reply, a friends mechanic dad did the test. I can't remember which cylinder it is unfortunately. Honestly I don't want the car anymore, I'm trying to sell it for 800 but I don't want to be asking an unfair price. Nice to know it could be a number of issues. I should get it checked out at a shop, at least then I would be able to tell the buyer what is really wrong with it. I had put a lot of work into it not realizing the engine was the issue. I had replaced the valve cover seal and valve rings - I could be wrong on the name, but I replaced the O rings that come with the valve seal, is that what you were referring to when you said bad rings? Sorry about the vocabulary, I'm a pretty new to mechanics.

The smoking on start-up could be valve stem seals,still an expensive fix-relative to the cars value.Head-gasket is another possbility as stated in answer #3 , although on those engines it often is between two cylinders giving you low compression in two adjacent cylinders.The 'sort of clicking sound' is hard to determine on-line as everyones perception of sound is different.No matter ...you said you don't want the car....there is your answer. Good luck.