Edited Date/Time
12/18/2014 2:55pm
I'm doing my winter tear-down of my 144, 17 hours on the engine. I was going to take a look before I decided if I should just pop in a new ring, or do both piston and rings.. It looks good to me, what do you guys with more expertise think? I've been running Renegade SX2 and Maxima 927 @ 32:1, jetting has always been in the ballpark but not perfect. I know I'm a little bit rich on the needle/pilot but main is usually spot on. Everything seems to be getting no shortage of oil, and the only place there is any detectible carbon buildup is in the head chamber, PV is clean and free.To me the cylinder looks perfect, minor carbon buildup on the exhaust side of the head and piston crown, no blowby on the piston, the only blemish I can find is the very light scuffing on the piston but it's very minor.
Piston rings are incredibly important when it comes to the smooth running of engines. However, all too often people forget about their condition until it’s too late. Here are some signs that you’re in need of some new ones:
If the smoke coming out of your engine is grey in colour and particularly thick, then it could mean your piston rings need replacing. The bad rings allow oil to leak and burn, resulting in incomplete combustion and smoke.
If your oil consumption seems to have increased all of a sudden, then old piston rings could be the culprit. When rings are old and worn, they allow the oil to leak into combustion chambers, meaning you will be using more than you need. Over time, this can cost you a great deal of money, so it’s always best to check your piston rings on a regular basis.
Worn piston rings can also cause your engine to experience a reduction in power. There will be less compression, so your engine may struggle to accelerate as effectively. If you’re using the throttle and waiting increasingly long periods of time for your engine to speed up, then the piston rings may be at fault.
When piston rings have really deteriorated, your engine may completely lose power, or its performance will be greatly reduced. You might notice very limited functionality and will need to fix the problem as soon as possible, as work won’t be possible when the engine is running this poorly. However, it’s unlikely that your engine will reach this point if you act quickly when noticing the other symptoms.