iponnet

as some of you might know from my posts my engine broke a timing belt recently and I got a valve job on the head and slapped it back on with new belts and everything! I started the car yesterday and I noticed a plume of smoke coming out of my exhaust and after doing a Leak-down test it seems my rings or cylinder walls are damaged....it leaks about 40-45% and I can hear it from the oil dipstick tube. I think I may have caused this by using carb cleaner and a sponge to clean the top of the pistons while the head was off..(yes I am an idiot) and despite my efforts to clean them out thoroughly some of the carbon deposits(there were lots) probably got stuck on the rings and damaged them or scratched the bore or are simply holding them open!

Now my question is how do I remedy this the best way possible, from what I can gather online it seems like I "could" pull the head off, drop the oil pan, remove the shield, and push the pistons out from the top!? than hone the bores (rented the tool w/ 3 stones from auto zone) install new rings and push the pistons back in! Should I use standard size rings or over sized? Will this help the problem, or 40-45% just means the damage is too much and the bottom part of the engine might need to come out and be properly serviced?

fwiw, I drove the car for a block and it had power but the smoke was so bad that an old guy followed me to try to get me to get off the road! lol

dagle

iTrader: (1)

Run it a little more to make sure it doesn't get better, some times the rings will seal after a couple cycles running. Dunno about 40-45% leak thought lol.

If you think about it, you're pretty much doing a complete rebuild. You might as well pull the block out of the car so you can have easier access and just in case your cylinder walls are indeed damaged. If they are not damaged, go with standard and you'll be fine.

You do not need to hone the bores if they're undamaged, just clean with brake cleaner. Go into the All Motor forum and ask there about honing/not honing.

flyrod

You can do as you described. You can at least take the head off to see the cylinder walls and decide where to go from there. Some auto shops have a bore scope that they can stick down a spark plug hole to look at the cylinder walls also. Good luck.