After my rebuild (b17a) I had some kind of problem and ran really rich.... compression has now dropped drastically and I'm burning oil like crazy. So, my guess is the rings are washed out.

I was just wondering if any of the engine builders out there could give me any insight into how my cylinder walls may be doing? I'm already running std oversized p30 pistons, so if the walls are damaged I'll need larger aftermarket pistons. I know I should just pull the engine and have the walls checked.....but when I get this thing rebuilt I'm going to have to do so with minimal downtime. That is why I amd trying to do some research and find out my chances of needing to save $$ for different pistons and some boring or maybe just a different block.... I'd just like to have an idea in advance so that I won't have to be w/o a car for too long.

I'm sure there's no definite yes or no answer, but just your experiences would be good still. I'm just not sure if washed out rings don't hurt the walls at all? only sometimes? or almost always do some damage?

TIA

 

Basically you hurt the middle ring, which controls the oil on the cylinder wall. You need to re-ring and ball hone the walls

 

wow, thanks for the quick reply....and from a guru too....bows
I'm gonna be stoked if all I have to do is re-ring and hone.... so even if I ran them washed out for quite awhile (engines been burning oil for probably 15k miles) the cylinder walls should be OK with just a hone? (crosses fingers)

Thanks again earl!

 

No guarantees

 

hehe, thats what I figured. But at least I know that there's a chance I won't have to bore over or find a new block..... Thanks earl!

 

I Just started my new build the other day, only idled it for about 30 minutes to check everything. Before starting it we unplugged the spark plug wires and cranked it for a minute or two, to make sure the oil was circulating, and then plugged the wires back in. We ran it for a while, and then took the spark plugs out to inspec the pistons. To my dismay, they looked very wet and are covered in little bits of soot that must have been stuck in the intake from spots I missed when washing it out. Should I suck all that crap out of there and drop some oil in it just to be safe before starting it again?

It also ran rough for a while untill we remembered to reset the ECU, at which point the engine seemed to run smoothly.