butch1175

I need to replace rings on my civic. Already did oil change, new valve seals, avd vavle adjustment. Did compression test with and without oil definitly good difference. My question is can I replace rings by removing the head and connecting rod bolts? Push pistons thru enough to put on new ring. I heard it could be done, but has anyone actually done it?

Genesis0863

pull your head and drop your oil pan. just make sure not to let the rods mess up the cylinder walls i have never done it but i know u can do it that way. U need to make sure your cyilnders are not egg shaped tho before u replace the rings.

94EG8

You're going to want to hone the cylinders before installing new rings, and it's going to get fine metal shavings everywhere. At that point you pretty well need the crank out and that does require removing the engine.

Yes it's technically possible, but you'd be an idiot to do it that way.

Texas4door

I've also seen it done where someone crammed rags down the bores to keep metal shavings from getting on the crank, and then giving the crank a good blasting of air/brake clean just to be safe after honing.

It's possible, just gotta be careful. ^^

beecee18

No it not really possible,
Due to the fact that I'm assuming there is a ****-ton of miles on that motor where the cylinders have probably wore out of round like mentioned above, not to mention a new ring set is supposed to seat on a fresh hone in a properly prepared bore using proper break in procedure.

Its possible one could benifit partialy if the old rings lost all the tension in them, and restored tension from the new rings helped ringseal somewhat,
But the ringseal would still not be correct in an unprepared bore without breaking in.

Now a real cheapass would do what you are saying by trying to cover up the crankshaft assy. and use one of those autopart rental cylinder hones that connect to a drill motor to put a slight hone and crosshatch to help the new rings seat.
But this is still not recomended due to introduction of debris to the rotating assy. And a half-*** bore/hone.

Machineshop is the one for this task, or a used japanese shortblock.

Genesis0863

im guessin his cylinder walls are probly egg shaped. From what i have heard and experienced is if u have like more then 10 to 15 psi difference between a dry and wet compression test more then likely cylinders are messed up. Had a cobalt have this problem and it needed and engine

94EG8

Generally speaking what happens to most Honda engines is the oil control rings get stuck in the ring lands.

Texas4door

I only said it was possible, never said it was a good idea ^^;
(I'd personally spring for a good used shortblock with a warranty and then sell the old block to cover shipping costs on the newer one, but that's just me)

But you're very correct in that the best course of action would be complete engine removal either way. Easier to clean/reach things that way too

beecee18

This is what makes our hobby so fun!

lol