Snapped Piston Ring In Rebuild

[mhyphenl 10 1 Cars]

Hi guys,

 

Just popping the last piston back in after having to rotate them 180 deg after initially putting them in the wrong way round. All new piston rings and honed liners. Put the ring compressor collar on and tapped it in and it was stuck, thought I'd just not tightened the collar enough but loosened it and I've snapped the middle ring, probably got it caught on the piston as there is a mark on the piston itself where it caught. The other rings look spot on, would it be a real problem to use one of the old rings for the middle one? otherwise its a whole new set!? the gaps were just outside spec when measured in the honed liner! Any opinions welcomed!!

 

cheers

Martin

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Only you can decide. Have you enquired to see if you can buy 1 piston worth of rings?

Otherwise it's just down to cost and whether you can stomach it or not!

[mhyphenl 10 1 Cars]

i can buy one pistons worth but it's £40, I don't have enough tech know how to judge the performance loss, I'm guessing the middle ring is the less important of the 3 but that may not be the case. the gap was 0.5mm which is the upper end of the quoted figures in haynes, so they weren't totally worn out but it does seem a shame to not have them all new.

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

is the middle ring the oil one? that has 2 parts if so i have one.

[Dizzee stuff 33 1 Cars]

£40 spent now seems a bargain compared to stripping the engine later, do it once do it right.

[mhyphenl 10 1 Cars]

is the middle ring the oil one? that has 2 parts if so i have one.

The middle one is single piece, it's the bottom one which is 2 or 3 parts depending on manufacturer. the top and middle are very similar just the edge profile differs slightly. Thanks for the offer though!

 

 

£40 spent now seems a bargain compared to stripping the engine later, do it once do it right.

You're right of course it's just frustrating!

Edited September 30, 2015 by mhyphenl

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Stop being tight!!!!! Think yourself lucky that you don't have to buy a set of 4 ring packs!! You won't break one again!

[Kane 34]

I agree with the above. The amount of time, effort and subsequent cost I've had to drop into my motor because of me either being a little tight fisted or not thoroughly checking everything is getting quite frankly ridiculous and its still not on the bloody road.

 

Save yourself the heartache and replace the for new, if it needs a full set so be it. You'll be better off in the long run

[petert 589]

And buy an 83mm tapered ring compressor so it doesn't happen again.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Your still making a saving by doing it yourself if you think of it that way.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

How much are a set of piston rings for a complete rebuild? I may have made a bit of an erro when i stripped my project engine - I just took the rings off and binned them....