PISTON RINGS

[golf on 20s 1]

how would i know if my piston rings were knackered, i thought my valve stem oil seals were the culprit of my oil from the rear of the car problem but was told today it was the piston rings, what would the symptoms of the rings being shot?

cheers guys

martin

[sprx3 0]

how would i know if my piston rings were knackered' date=' i thought my valve stem oil seals were the culprit of my oil from the rear of the car problem but was told today it was the piston rings, what would the symptoms of the rings being shot?

cheers guys

martin

[/quote']

whats the rear of the car? best way to check is to do a compression test & see if the comp's are low, this will give you a good indication of the health of your motor

[golf on 20s 1]

the smoke is coming from the exhaust mate, how much and where can i get it compression tested?

[Russ_vr6 12]

any garage could do a test for ya

when does it smok mate,when accelleratin hard or when lettin off throttle or on idle or on start up?

[golf on 20s 1]

Does it only when you accelerate hard, doesnt do it all the time and never on start up, i never drive it hard until its warm either, not using loads of oil either

[mannie 0]

who told you its your piston ring mate,i don't mean to be rude,a mechanic after a compression testor pub expert.if u r not lossing power then its more likely to be valve oil seals , if lossing power get a compression test done..by the way what mileage is the car ,has the car been used hard in the pass.

[6potmkII 0]

if the car is burning oil, it could be the rings, but it wouldnt necccesarily lose power. if its burning under hard accel it could well be your rings, as sprx3 says, best way is to do compression test.

[golf on 20s 1]

cheers guys, its definately not loosing any power

if its on overrun and then you accellerate it lets out a little bit of smoke but it soon goes even if you dont lift your foot, just get a small puff and then nothing! engine sounds as sweet as a nut, no rattles or piston slap or anything else for that matter, the car has an amazing service history and has been serviced at awesome for the last 40k oh and its only got 85k on the clock

[Buzzark 0]

Is it oil smoke? i.e. blueish

[jaysVR6 2]

Sorry to put a downer on this thread but it sounds like exactly the same symptoms as I had. I had my head re-built because I thought it was guides and seals and took the risk of leaving the rings (big mistake!!)

My rings, pistons and bores where fooked fella and the car had only covered 60,000 miles! Check out my previous threads mate, I've even posted up a picture of my old pistons, they were BADLY scored.

A good way to tell is if you have some piston slap, it can be easily mistaken for a noisy follower or chain rattle.

What happens especially on the overrun is that the engine will suck oil up past the bad seal thats been created by worn oil rings and the bore on vacuum, past the compression rings resulting in burning oil when you touch the throttle. It takes a tiny amount of oil to produce a large amount of smoke. Then you burn it off as you accelerate.

A compression test may not show up worn oil rings if your compression rings are ok.

If your gonna try stems seals I suppose you could do that first as the head doesn't have to come off, you'll soon tell when you start driving it again if it's worked or not.

The honest truth mate, is that it's nigh on impossible to tell unless you have the head off and visually check the bores and drop off the sump and go in that way to have a piston out and check the rings. If your gonna have the head off, CHECK THE PISTONS! My honest advice is not to cut corners and try and save money. It'll cost you twice as much in the long run. Take it from a guy who's learnt the hard way!