whats up honda tech i wanted ppls input about me just changing piston rings on my jdm gsr block. Cylinder 1 is low on compression and yes i did compression test. I was going to go oversize pistons but now i cant because money issues have come up. I just want to take take of the issue of the blue smoke but i want to know if i can just change the piston rings instead of doing the boring and honing for different size pistons? has anybody done this before? If i just do the pistons what are the chances of me to get smoke from not honing? Please help me out.

 

well the only way to tell if your goin to need a hone, is after you pull the head. If you still see the cross hatch, you should be good

 

Im not mechanic savy buy what is a cross hatch?

 

bummmmppppp. Please help im taking this engine apart tommorow

 

measure bores if they are in spec change the rings and put the pistons back in after u hone the cylinder
id check the head and replace rebuild it as well.

cross hatching is better understood by searching

 

If you have NO idea what we're talking about then you should NOT be taking the motor apart.

 

x2

 

Relax guys my cousin is doing the work but i just wanted to know if i can just change the rings

 

Change the bearing as well.

 

You can just change the rings but make sure the cylinders still have the cross hatch. Installing just the rings without taking out the block is possible but it is not the best way to do this install.

Make sure you do a leak down test before anything. Your problem might not be your piston rings.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:1,s:0

 

Umm, not until you've done a leak down test. At least, I wouldn't take a part the engine until I've done a full diagnostic. Yes, you might have a bad ring, but you also might have a bad valve seal. A compression test is good but its by far not 100% conclusive.

 

To the person saying to change the bearings also, there is no reason to. Honda bearings are good for over 300k miles. They aren't something that wears normally, so they're either good or bad. Keep in mind that the parts don't ride metal to metal, they ride on a layer of oil. And if you already have perfectly sized bearings, changing them is just giving a chance for messing it up and making it spin a bearing.

 

Well I used to work for toyota and dodge as the main engine mechanic (yes I know that's not honda but...) and I would have to agree with doing the leakdown test because a leaky valve seal can cause oil to get into the combustion chamber therefor creating "blue smoke syndrome".

And as for the cross hatch, the best way i can explain it, is look at the cylinder wall, it should look like thousands of fine lines going at two different angles from top to bottom of the cylinder wall, there for creating a "cross hatch" look. Also while your looking at it, take a nice flash light and look to see if there is any scoring or small gouges, if there is, YOU WILL HAVE TO RE-SLEEVE THE BLOCK OR BORE IT OUT, NO CHOICE! REPLACING THE PISTON RINGS WOULD BE A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY AT THAT POINT...........and bump on the the bearings not needing replaced.

Hope that helped a little bit and good luck bud

 

ok so i believe the piston ring is bad on cylinder 1 because i took the head apart today and i put oil into the cylinders and cylinder 1 bubbles a little so im assuming its geting through.

 

even a normal operating engine will allow oil to drain down past the cylinder if you pour it in when it's off. Since you're already ripping things apart, the way to determine is to pull the piston and look at the oil control rings.

Also worth a mention, compression rings seal against compression and oil control rings scrape the oil off the cylinder walls to prevent oil from getting up into the combustion chamber. Compression rings dont seal against oil. That said if you're having oil problems, you should be replacing oil control rings in addition to the compression rings.

 

wtf

 

i hope all goes well but it really wasn't a smart move to take things a part without a leak down test

 

well if ur gonna rip it apart, change all the rings in all pistons. check bearings, journals and crank visually. then plastigage them maybe. if ur not sure about the cylinders, hone them anyway. If that doesn't fix ur smoke, u get to pull off the head again and change the valve stem seals :D.

 

PM ' d

 

you can get a drill hone for $15, might as well if ur gonna take apart the block

 

ok guys so the update is that i took out the head took it to a machine shop and they inspected it and said the valve guides were bad. So now im geting the head rebuilt and as for the block im just going to take the pistons out this weekend and take them to the machine shop also and get them cleaned and im gonna put new sets of rings on the pistons and put it back in. Hopefully this should solve the problem once in for all.

 

Dont forget to hone the block!

 

yes hone
and all bearings/caps int he same order or else you will have a disaster

 

i am not honing.. The dude at the machine shop says he done so many hondas in his days without honing just changing rings to fix the problem. Also i will see how the bearings look when i take it apart. If it looks good i will use the same ones.

 

Just do it.
just because he says it has worked in the past, doesnt it will with your engine.

If, it doesnt youll have to tear it back down again and do it all over again. Is it really worth the trouble.
Dad's best freind used to own his own machine shop, he says honeing is required for the new rings to seal.