How hard is it to remove and change out just the piston ring with the head off and the block still on the car? Could it be simple as just to remove oil pan, push piston out and install rings?

 

it can be done, but if your going to attempt a ring job why not un do the drivers side mount and pull the block out? it would suck trying to bench press in the crank while the block is on a jack and one mount. Then having to hold it up while its properly bolted and torqued = your nuts!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not insulting you. If you currently don’t have a garage (like me) and you don’t know anyone with a drive way, do what I do =

Pull the head intake and exhaust mani off, use jacks and pull off the trannie, then un bolt and pull out the block… then put your suspension back in snug (not a tight fit) and bam!! You have a rolling chassis and can work on your block in your house, back yard or porch.

As long as your clean and don’t spill oil or coolant all over streets… your neighbors wont complain! Mine find it amusing that I’m always stripping something every week . pretty soon it’s going to snow :-{ = sux 4 me!

By the way…. I’m only 5’7 and 120, I don’t work out and I can lift my trans/block (individually of course) up to my head (d series); I can only lift b series to my abdomen = they’re fking heavy!!



Modified by islandtechengineers at 1:44 PM 11/4/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djtony5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How hard is it to remove and change out just the piston ring with the head off and the block still on the car? Could it be simple as just to remove oil pan, push piston out and install rings?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes, it should be that simple but there will probably be more things you'll need to get out of your way. but i think this would be easier than having to pull the whole motor, then u have the problem of labeling harness plugs, etc.

 

do it right and take the block out of the car, you have to take PTW measurements and then go from there.
your going to need honing and depending on how bad the cyl. are egg shaped you might need to step up to the next piston size

 

I've done it before.

It's really not that bad.

Here's how we did it.

- Remove head
- Drop oil pan
- Unbolt rods from crank and push pistons out through the top. Make sure to mark them!
- Clean pistons, replace rings with new ones
- Give the cylinders a quick hone, just to remove any scarring on the walls
- Reinstall the pistons and torque to the crank
- Reinstall oil pan and head
- Be sure to follow proper break in procedures

A friend and I did this one evening, took us about 5 or 6 hours total. It was a stock d16z6 turbo. It ran 13.6 the next weekend and has been running those times since (about 6 months now).

No need to pull the engine unless you really have the time for it.

 

So I just have to remove the rods bolt and push the rod out through the cylinder and use a rings remover tool and get it out and install the new rings and just push it back in and reinstall the rod bolts?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djtony5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So I just have to remove the rods bolt and push the rod out through the cylinder and use a rings remover tool and get it out and install the new rings and just push it back in and reinstall the rod bolts?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well.... yeah, I guess. Basically that's all you have to do.

Make sure you hone the cylinders before installing new rings. Also make sure you check the ring gap etc.

 

And the hone tool and ring install/remover would be available at any autoparts stores such as autozone and etc...? If so, thanks you bro..hopefully all goes well. I do have a helm manual downloaded, so I'm sure I could check the ring gaps and all that. I was just afraid about measuring bearing clearance, dealing with plastigauges and all that, but I guess since I'm only taking out the piston to install new rings it wouldn't be too much of a hassle.

 

how many miles on the block? if your changing the rings because of mileage you most likely are going to have to step up to the next piston size since your prolly going to have too much piston to wall clearance and your cylinders are prolly egg shaped.
Since you are taking the bearing out you might as well change them after inspection.

 

Ok here is an update: I just got done removing two of the piston from the cyl that has the low compression numbers. Check out the ring and piston and everything look fine. I don't see any burn mark on the ring or crack at all. Omg.....how do you know if there is something wrong with it? Obviously there has to be something wrong because when I add the teaspoon of oil down those two cylinder, the freaking compression rise by more than 30 psi.

mmuller: There is 102,000 miles on the engine right now. The cyl wall look fine and it is very smooth. You could just see a little bit of honing left in it. Ye I could see normal wear and tear on the rod bearing. it look black on the under side.

Someone please help me out....Iono what in the world is wrong with the engine...
My compression before removing head and piston were 200-1 175-2 135-3 200-4. Added oil to 2..rise to 225. Add oil to 3 and it rise to 175.

I check out my valves and there are two small exhaust valves leak on both of those two cylinder.

 

then your valves are causing the problem. you need to replace them. any way for air to escape will cause your compression numbers to be screwed up. but.. the adding oil thing doesnt make sense if your valves are messed up..

 

sanimalp: Ye that is what so confusing. Also before all this I would try to turn the crank to TDC to adjust my valves and the crank would be hard to turn. You could hear the air hissing and escaping from somewhere and then it would be easily turn again.

 

what originally caused this issue? did you buy the car that way? or did something happen when you were driving? i think more back story might help to diagnose this problem. the problem could also be caused by a blown head gasket. are there any more symptoms to this issue besides low compression numbers? eating coolent, burning oil, etc etc.

 

Not eating coolant, not burning oil, did not misshift or anything..no smoke coming out of exhaust..it just happen. Check out the piston ring today and all of it look fine to me. There were no scratches on the cyl wall, and it was smooth as heck...I just got low compression and hestitation badly between 2-3k rpm.. And it is really weird that the low compression were next to each other. And the valves that are bent are on the exhaust side.

 

did you ever do a leakdown test?

 

No I did not.

 

The exhaust valves are usually the ones that get tagged.It usually takes a missed shift or over rev for this to happen.
Glenn

 

Ok so I know that some of my exhaust valves are bent slightly. But how the heck do I go about the compression rising with the teaspoon of oil? Should I just replace with new ring and call it a day or just put everything back in.

 

i would say replace rings and valves that are bent and head gasket and call it a day.