Anyone just change rings??
- Thread starter cb2honk
- Start date
J
justinak907
Member
If everything looks good on the jugs and pistons. I'd say just re-hone your cylinder and only change rings. If the piston is scuffed to the point where you can feel it, then maybe, but if there in good shape then your engine doesn't know the difference between brand new or the current, imo. The rings are providing the seal and constant contact.
That's kind of what I thought, but I just don't hear of too many people doing that. I have it all tore down right now for some preventative maintenance and repairs. So, I thought about doing piston and rings, but cylinders look great, and pistons look good too. they have a couple marks, but nothing I can feel. This is on a boosted D8.
Sometimes pistons may looks good but what you really need to check is piston to cylinder clearance. Also metal fatigue of the piston is invisible. And that can cause major damage to your sled. If your engine is apart I would strongly recommend changing the pistons with the rings. Will only cost you a fraction of the damage a broken piston can cause you.
F
Flange509
Member
I've always felt changing rings as a good way to keep the the pistons happy, done this on my dirt bikes for years. I've had very good luck with just deglazing the cylinder with scotchbrite, this seems to work good for letting the new rings seat.
Did my old 00' 700 RMK with rings last year, was going to do the pistons but the new rings had no more gap than the old rings at 5800 miles and they were at the lower level of spec.
Did my old 00' 700 RMK with rings last year, was going to do the pistons but the new rings had no more gap than the old rings at 5800 miles and they were at the lower level of spec.
Change the pistons while it's apart. The piston skirts collapse over time and your cylinder clearance grows. I have one here with 800 miles on it and it's already .003 smaller than a new one and just looking at the piston it looks perfect. (no scratches, scoring, or anything. When the clearance is supposed to be .0044-.0059 (700 specs) that's a huge difference and too much clearance results in broken piston skirts and major engine damage (cylinder, cases, crank). Why cheap out on a few hundred dollars and end up paying $2000-3000 for a complete motor.
