Piston Ring Replacement

[itsjbeck]

Ok guys, and girls. Im doing a piston ring replacement and need all the help i can get.
Im looking for a list or pointers of things i need to buy, things to replace while i am down there, and any advice you could give me.
I havent done this before so any help is going to be appreciated.

 

[tweety2300]

1. Make sure you have help from someone that knows what they're doing

2. Research on how to do it, all motors are pretty much the same internally

3. Short half ass list- piston rings, head, valve cover, and intake manifold gaskets, good torque wrench, new head bolts from Mazda"
Right way- all mentioned above, rod and main bearings, cylinder bore and larger pistons if needed, cylinder hone, valve seals, cam seals, water pump, timing belt,have head head milled/ resurfaced, good cleaning of every thing, and engine paint to make it look pretty, if you can use a cometic head gasket as they are way better than oem, and while its all apart a new clutch

4. Don't expect it to be done in one day or over the weekend, machine work will take a day or so. If you do it the half asses way don't expect it to last for ever could last for years or a few weeks

 

[itsjbeck]

thank you, im going to tackle the valve stem seals as my research has led me to believe that this may be the culprit. but if all goes back to gether and there is still signs of burning oil. the rings will then be dealt with.

thanks for the list of parts.

 

[JaLMP5]

Have you done a compression test? And what made you come to the conclusion that your valve seals are bad as opposed to your rings?

 

[tweety2300]

Probably blue smoke on cold start ups would be my guess

Considering if you pull the head twice all the gaskets and stuff have to be replaced twice I would recomend on piston rings while its apart if you have money/ time

 

[JaLMP5]

^ I would suggest the same. Valve seals are going to run you about $30 for the set and if you go on Rockauto you can get a set of piston rings for $50 for the cheap set or $80 for the "upgraded" set. But I would honestly just go to the stealership to get both IMO.

 

[tweety2300]

And do not get felpro valve seals

 

[Jasonjames]

While the rering is not terribley difficult, there are a couple of tricky bits. Removing the old rings means trying not to scratch the ring-lands on the piston with the sharpish old ring ends. If you break an old ring,..wont matter, but installing new rings requires the least flexing possible so they dont break. Once they're in, you will need a ring-compressor to get the pistons back in their bores. Before you place the conrod back into their bores [dont mix them up,.number them by a light scatch on the piston crown] slide some interference-fit plastic tubing over the rod-cap studs so the stud-ends dont knick the crankshaft big-end journals as you tap the piston/conrod gently in with a hammer wooden handle. All pistons have an indentation at their crown-edge which indicates "front" of engine. All rod bigend caps need to be matched to their rods.

A workshop manual, if this is your first attempt, will serve you well

J J

 

[JaLMP5]

I've never heard of a light scratch on the crown. Wouldn't it be easier to label it with some sort of marker or peice of tape. Just remove it and clean the dome before applying the head. I like all the other tips and the workshop manuals will be the biggest help doing this.

 

[Jasonjames]

Yeah,..if you dont want to use a very light scratch [using a scriber for instance],..any other means is good,.long as you dont have 2 labels fall off!

J J

 

[itsjbeck]

Have you done a compression test? And what made you come to the conclusion that your valve seals are bad as opposed to your rings?

smoke on start up and heavy acceleration.

rings were suggested to me by my mechanic who also said it could be either one.

im doing the seals this weekend, and if its still acting up after that, then ill go in and get the rings done.
whats the difference between the standard rings and the "upgraded" ones?

 

[tweety2300]

It's probably both, do a compression test before you do anything, no point in it. It's kind of like replacing the timing belt to go back an do the water pump in a few weeks

 

[JaLMP5]

I honestly don't believe there is a difference, it's just what Rockauto had listed hence the quotation marks. But like I said, best bet is to buy those parts OEM from the dealership just to make sure you're getting quality stuff. I would also have to agree with Tweety in doing both of them at the same time since you'll have the head off either way. But if you're doing this yourself I hope you have some mechanical know how. Not difficult but probably not for some one that isn't mechanically inclined either. (not you just a general statement)