piston rings ?

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » January 16th, 2006, 9:07 pm

I did compression test today and here are the results

Before oil
1-165
2-132
3-155
4-160

After oil
1-185
2-179
3-195
4-185

So i am guessing the head gasket and/or rings are shot and i am planning to change them along with valve seals and guides. My question is, would it be possible to change the rings without having to take the pistons out - do i have to get the engine out of the car and take the pistons off the block to change them?

I have been looking at several re-ring kits that include "total gasket set" - does that usually include head gasket?

Also anyone know a cheap source to get re-ring kits and valve stuff?

ryanlindenberg · Post by **ryanlindenberg** » January 16th, 2006, 9:28 pm

yea it's probably your rings. you need to take the pistons out to replace the rings, you might be able to get the pistons out while leaving the block engine in the car but i'm sure it would be much easier and take way less time if you took the motor out.

the total gasket set should include a head gasket but you should ask them just in case.

i got my rebuild kit from the local parts store. i think it ran me around $600 for everything (all gaskets, bearings, rings, etc...)

93_mx3_gs · Post by **93_mx3_gs** » January 16th, 2006, 9:57 pm

600 is a little spendy. You should look online for the kits as they are much cheaper and they should include EVERYTHING you need to rip that engine apart and put it back together.

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » January 17th, 2006, 2:08 am

Thanks for the help guys. Anyone ever done this before without taking the engine out? also do i need special tools like valve spring compressor, piston Ring Compressor etc or can i manage without them? I am going to get a

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » January 17th, 2006, 1:14 pm

In order to do the rings you need to be able to remove the oil pan from the bottom of the engine.. if you can do this while the engine is still in the car and you dont have anything blocking access to the bottom end once the oil pan is off.. then you can do the rings while the engine is still in the car.. its a royal pain in the arse to do it this way. And yes.. if you are going to do your valve seals you will need a spring compressor, and you will need a ring sleeve compressor to hold the rings against the pistons in their grooves in order to get the pistons back into the cylinders.

Doing this job is a bit complicated.. and there are a LOT of things that need to be done right the first time or all your work will be for nothing and could even cost you more money in the long run. I am not saying you shouldnt do your own work, I am saying if you havent done it before.. have a friend on hand that has.

Mark everything prior to removing it so that it can be replaced exactly how it came apart when you put it back together. Take LOTS of digital pictures throughout the entire tear down so that you have a reference. Make sure you know all your applicable torque specifications and clearance specs. Bag and tag all the bolts from any one item when you remove it.

This is one of the biggest jobs you can do to your car.. in a lot of ways swapping in a new engine is easier. So go slow and be extremely anal about everything. Afterall.. the idea here is to fix a problem not to create a new one. Cheers and good luck.

Tunes67

azazel95 · Post by **azazel95** » January 17th, 2006, 6:34 pm

You'll also need one of those ring pliar doo-hickeys to remove the rings from the pistons.

Shades · Post by **Shades** » January 18th, 2006, 12:40 am

You know what?!... those numbers for compression are not bad at all.

Is your car smoking?... if so, might wanna try and change your valve seals first and see if that helps.

Yes cylinder 2 seems to be a little low, but the rule of thumb is that they all should be between the highest test number and 15% minus that... so you're good.

Seems to me like you're trying to spend a lot of money for nothing... save up for a BP or something.

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » January 18th, 2006, 1:25 am

Thanks for all the help guys... I think it will cost about $400 in parts to do this - so i might just save up and get an used engine ... Its gonna be same amount of work anyways ....

Shades wrote:Is your car smoking?... if so, might wanna try and change your valve seals first and see if that helps.

It doesnt smoke all the time - it smokes on cold startup sometimes. but the main thing is lack of power. The weird thing is the car seems to have lot of torque and pull if i press on the gas pedal slowly - if i step on it suddenly then it will rev up but no hard acceleration. I have even done a slow pedal push immediately followed by a sudden push and i noticed that the torque and acceleration decrease noticeably (but the engine revs up). My car is just weird i guess - I am thinking very hard about engine swap and somebody gave me an idea about 2nd gen(95-98 ) protege LX (ES?) 1.8L BP (122HP, 117 ft.lbs) and ATX - probably nobody has done that before and i am going to explore that possibility ....

now if only i had that $1k ...

Shades · Post by **Shades** » January 18th, 2006, 10:04 am

Your car is 13 years old... what do you expect from it for power. If you wanted it to be the same as when you drove it off the lot then you'd get it rebuilt, cause changing the ring won't get you much... there would be cylinder wear and that decreases power too, etc.

If it smokes only at start up it's most likely a seal of some kind, prolly a valve seal.

But yes, save up for a BP... it would be a nice project as it seems you want to do car stuff yourself, and that will get you more power.