How to free stuck piston rings? Make piston stew!!

[RC000E]

I am rebuilding an LS/vtec for my DelSol build and ran into some SERIOUSLY stuck piston rings. Everything I tried wouldn't free (soaked them in PB, tapped at them, cleaned around the rings, blah blah blah) them so it called for extreme measures...and a hell of a good trick.

Ingredients:

Pistons with stuck rings
Pot
Stove
Enough water to submerge pistons

Cook over medium to high heat and bring to a boil. Boil over high heat for approximately 20 minutes, then start removing every five minutes and attempting to remove the piston rings.



Rings came off like a charm

[Ubertec]

Thats a good idea but how was the stew Feed it to your mother in law

[RC000E]

The stew was damn good....damn good

[DfwBB6]

Originally Posted by Ubertec

Thats a good idea but how was the stew Feed it to your mother in law

hahaha

[Flexin5]

haha..first baking headlights, now this. but hey whatever works. good idea man.

[1Bar GSR]

Wow... Those yellow piggies! Im so hoping thats your mom's kitchen or your wife has seriously bad taste.

[RC000E]

Thats called a girlfriend who can't turn down her grandmothers hand me downs. I think they're pretty damn retarded lookin, but then again I do much cooking aside from this here stew

[JDogg]

um..i hope ur not reusing those pistons?? if the rings were stuck that bad then the lands are probably collapsed

[HiProfile]

Seriously toss that pot out, or clean it with some harsh abrasive chemicals. Although its stainless, reminant hydorcarbons are not something you want in your brats or spagetti.

Good alternate use of cookware though

[Legion]

Holy Moly, I have that same "Chock full o nuts" coffee can! It's been sitting in my garage holding nails since the 60's.

[RC000E]

Originally Posted by JDogg

um..i hope ur not reusing those pistons?? if the rings were stuck that bad then the lands are probably collapsed

No really...they're not, it's just combustion byproduct that gets behind rings and sticks them...it's quite common in higher mile motors. The deposits behind the ring actually build and push the ring out harder and harder, and it breaks down the oil barrier. The higher heat just further "cooks" the carbon and sticks the ring worse. The tell tale of this occurrence is that the rings look HIGHLY polished. Sometimes the metal will even break down kind of "weld" them in a very loose sense.

Boiling them just allows the water to work it's way behind the ring and loosen everything, as well as expand the piston assisting with breaking the carbon up. The grooves are clean now, and the new rings are installed and quite free. Rod's have new ARP's installed and have been reconditioned as well.



I've experienced this on many rebuilds I've done in the past. It happens....and the pistons are fine, as are the cylinders which are now sitting happily with less than .001 of variation...no taper really and no out of roundness. Cylinder bores were all good lingering around 3.190". Motor going back together tomorrow.

Originally Posted by HiProfile

Seriously toss that pot out, or clean it with some harsh abrasive chemicals. Although its stainless, reminant hydorcarbons are not something you want in your brats or spagetti.

Good alternate use of cookware though

Yeah, it's a cheap *** pot that is a real thin material. It wasn't a pot we used. Good for searchers and readers to know though that I didn't mention....don't reuse the pot

[JDogg]

i didnt realize those were stock pistons... makes since now

the only time i have ever had stuck rings was when hte pistons melted, i never try to reuse the stock mess we throw it out.

[RCautoworks]

No pics of the hot dogs you cooked after wards in the same pot ?

[JoePSI]

Originally Posted by 1Bar GSR

Wow... Those yellow piggies! Im so hoping thats your mom's kitchen or your wife has seriously bad taste.

lol

[White Smoke]

Originally Posted by RCautoworks

No pics of the hot dogs you cooked after wards in the same pot ?

Yummy!

[Runnerdown]

I have seen a ton of stuck rings on honda motors. You know, the ones where people ask why it smokes so much.

[RC000E]

Yep....had stuck rings, then I ran into stuck *** rod bearing caps. I pressed the new ARP's, then took the rods to be recon'd...well I guess it distored the cap some before they were resized. The caps were a ***** as well.

No easy trick in removing those. I don't often do the stock rod/arp combo, so I haven't come across this much. Prior times I've had them, they came off like stock. This time I took a mallet, loosened the rod bolts to where only a couple of threads were engaged, then held the rod with a couple fingers through the big end. I then tapped back and forth quickly on each rod bolt, and they came apart.

I inside mic'd them already, but I like to do a plastigauge anyway as backup. So that's next here today. Have to see what happens on that one.