After heads come off, what to use for stuck rings????

[Brad S.]

Very soon (this weekend, hopefully) when the heads come off, what could a person use for
stuck rings???
I know the Auto RX has helped many around here, but while I'm waiting on the heads, thought I would try this.
Spraying into the cylinders, around the pistons, etc.
That is if there are no holes or cracks in pistons.

 

[oregon96psd]

mix of diesel and atf maybe? or some solvent....just pour a little of everything down there, somethings gotta help

 

[Brad S.]

mix of diesel and atf maybe? or some solvent....just pour a little of everything down there, somethings gotta help

Actually thats right on.
With the amount of blowby I had, if I don't have a hole or crack in one or more pistons, I've got some seriously stuck or broken
rings.

I'm also wondering if turning the engine by the bolt on the crank, every so often would help too???

 

[chris142]

Maybe something like Carburator spray? That stuff will loosen all kinds of gunk.

 

[icanfixall]

Buy some Aerkroil from Kano Labs online... That will loosen up anything.... Great stuff too.

 

[WhiskeyBottle2]

Kroil

Buy some Aerkroil from Kano Labs online... That will loosen up anything.... Great stuff too.

I bought some Kroil...removed glow plugs...squirted a little kroil in each glow plug hole...wait 30 minutes...turn over engine for 5 seconds...squirt another shot down each glow plug hole...replace glow plugs...wait overnight...make sure glow plug harness is unplugged...remove fuel filter...dump it in can...fill filter with ATF....replace filter...turn engine over for 10 seconds....wait 30 seconds...turn engine over another 10 seconds....let sit overnight...next day hook up glow plug wires...fire up engine...let run 2 minutes....let it sit for an hour...re-fire engine and drive it like you stole it till up to temp...when back home...let engine idle...check blow-by...

This process can be repeated...if after 3 or 4 times and blow-by has not reduced....verify if rings are worn with blow-by meter...Yes there is such a thing!

Hope this helps....

 

[Brad S.]

Thanks guys, that good info.
Another question, do broken rings always scratch or groove up cylinder walls??

 

[riotwarrior]

I bought some Kroil...removed glow plugs...squirted a little kroil in each glow plug hole...wait 30 minutes...turn over engine for 5 seconds...squirt another shot down each glow plug hole...replace glow plugs...wait overnight...make sure glow plug harness is unplugged...remove fuel filter...dump it in can...fill filter with ATF....replace filter...turn engine over for 10 seconds....wait 30 seconds...turn engine over another 10 seconds....let sit overnight...next day hook up glow plug wires...fire up engine...let run 2 minutes....let it sit for an hour...re-fire engine and drive it like you stole it till up to temp...when back home...let engine idle...check blow-by...

This process can be repeated...if after 3 or 4 times and blow-by has not reduced....verify if rings are worn with blow-by meter...Yes there is such a thing!

Hope this helps....

Sounds interesting.....

What exactly is a "Blow By Meter" I hope your not referring to a leak down tester....Just checking?

I have a concern with dumping all kinds of crud down into the cylinders. Namely the fact that any debris loosened will find its way south into the oil pan and might get caught up in there. I'd suggest that after pouring oodles of crap into cyl with heads off you dump oil and lots of it out...and pour some cheap walmart or other trash brand oil into the engine to just pour in...and pour out drain plug to help WASH away debris. Also be prepared for a number of filter changes...I'd do the first oil filter change in 20-30 minutes...including oil...you don't want any debris in there getting lodged in bypass etc of filter...and then running unfiltered oil...

Im OCD about some of this stuff...so it's

JM2CW

Al

 

[RLDSL]

Although I'm the worlds biggest fan of Auto RX after all the engines its revived for me, if you are going to be yanking the blamed heads anyway and have concernes about your rings, why dont you just pull the whole engine, for one thing, its easier to swap the heads with the engine out anyway, then go ahead and pull your pistons and get a new set of rings and run a ring groove cleaner around all the pistons. ( spend a few extra bucks and get a set of gapless rings, you wont be sorry ) . Yea, yea, it would be great to rebore for an oversize etc, but if cash is a concern, and it was running fairly acceptably, honing the cyls out and popping new rings in will breathe a lot of life in. Considering that you are going that far in anyway.

You are not going to break the varnish off by a light soaking of anything, it is a rock hard sticky coating beneath the rings directly on the piston grooves, and you can plan on spending up to an hour with a groove cleaner on some pistons. Teh reason Auto Rx and some other flushes will work is the engine is heated up and teh rings are under pressure and *trying* to flex while the cleaning is going on so the rings act like a wire brush along with the cleaner. If you just set some cleaner on some heavy ring varnish, you might loosenthe outer layer, but you are not going to get enough off to make much of a difference.

Now if you just want to wait and get it back together and THEN run a couple treatments of auto rx, that would be the most successful method without having to tear into the bottom end, but wt this stage I would still seriously consider new rings since you will be halfway there anyway, and its a great time to get rid of all your other minor leaks and seeps

 

[Knuckledragger]

Kano Labs also sell "Kreen" made exactly for engine applications. Probably the same as Auto RX, maybe with some Kroil in it, too.

Why not just pull them out of the engine and look? Yeah, it's work, but you already have the heads off. That is the hard part.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Another question, do broken rings always scratch or groove up cylinder walls??

Depends on where and how they are broken. If they are shattered and broken in several places, there is no pressure to hold them against the cylinder walls, so no scoring. if the ring is broken almost in half, it can try to expand and push out the sharp edges possibly creating a scratch or groove.

Generally, there is no scratching only because of a broken ring. Debris or oil starvation will do it far more efficiently.

 

[jwalterus]

filling the cylinders with brake fluid has never let me down, I've popped free many engines using it

just this last summer, acquired a 67 dodge 500 bus/camper conversion that had been sitting for 10 years, towed it with a loaded semi and the 383 under the hood kept the wheels locked tight if it was in gear

pull the spark plugs/glow plugs, buy a gallon jug of brake fluid and a good small neck funnel, and fill every cylinder, check again in 2-3 days and refill any cylinders that have drained down, then 3-4 days later (with the gps/spark plugs still out), bump it over slowly with the starter or with a big ass breaker bar on the crank bolt until it turns over a few times and is cranking decent, then change the oil and make sure you run the thing a while (it's gonna smoke like a chimney until it burns off all the brake fluid in the cylinders)

 

[RLDSL]

Kano Labs also sell "Kreen" made exactly for engine applications. Probably the same as Auto RX, maybe with some Kroil in it, too.

Why not just pull them out of the engine and look? Yeah, it's work, but you already have the heads off. That is the hard part.

Kreen is not even close to auto rx. Kreen is a fast flush solvent It should ONLY be used on newer engines that are using it as a service item to prevent buildup from ever happening in the first place at regular service intervals or on an engine that is about to be torn down, just like any fast flush as you risk clogging oil passeges with large chunks of debris on older engines requiring major teardown to repair the damage ( ask me how I know this first hand Auto RX is rather hard to describe, it works more like an emulsion, it slowly works away at the yuk in your engine till it gets to the metal, but by the time its done it will get ALL of it, where a solvent will quickly knock a bunch of stuff loose but leave a buncjh halfway hanging that still needs a good scrubbing

I've been using and selling synthetic oils for about 34 years now where flushing crankcases has been a mainstay before changing since the beginning,but I no longer will use the oficial fast flushes anymore I will only use Auto Rx on customer cars after what I've been through ( note I use and recommend the stuff that I DONT make any money on rather than the stuff I can sell that is a whole lot like kreen and all of the other fast flushes out there .. I have seen the light. It just doesnt pay to play with fire.
When youve had a fast flush drop crunchies down into a lifter and pack it up, and then have to tear the engine apart and poke out all teh oil passeges to get all teh crunchies out and then of course all teh replacement parts $$$, you gain a WHOLE new perspective on the subject.

It's great to learn from your own mistakes.... much better to learn from others mistakes

 

[WhiskeyBottle2]

Blow-By Meter!

Sounds interesting.....

What exactly is a "Blow By Meter" I hope your not referring to a leak down tester....Just checking?

I have a concern with dumping all kinds of crud down into the cylinders. Namely the fact that any debris loosened will find its way south into the oil pan and might get caught up in there. I'd suggest that after pouring oodles of crap into cyl with heads off you dump oil and lots of it out...and pour some cheap walmart or other trash brand oil into the engine to just pour in...and pour out drain plug to help WASH away debris. Also be prepared for a number of filter changes...I'd do the first oil filter change in 20-30 minutes...including oil...you don't want any debris in there getting lodged in bypass etc of filter...and then running unfiltered oil...

Im OCD about some of this stuff...so it's

JM2CW

Al

riotwarrior...yes there is a tool to measure blow-by...it is NOT a leak down tester...basically it is a cfm (cubic ft. per meter) analyzer. It will tell you how much blow-by you have...There are specs for the engine that will give you how much is considered acceptable...if you have more blow-by than what is considered acceptable, the specs will tell you step by step as to what to do next to solve the problem...

As far as Kreen goes...I have used it many, many times...I have used it on engines just for general cleaning and for use right before a tear down...I can tell you honestly I have never had any problems with it. As long as you follow directions it is just fine...As a matter of fact...using Kreen prior to a tear down really cleans the internals well. After tear down...and I have tore down many engines in my time and never found chunks or blocked passages of any kind. Kreen just plain dissolves the gunk, sludge, baked on carbon, etc..and puts it in suspension to be filtered out/drained...

 

[c_silva88]

ive always but a gallon of pb blaster and a gallon of mystery oil and pull glow plugs and put the pb blaster in and let it sit for 2 days then crank the engine over by hand and the refill the cylinders with the mystery oil it let sit for another 2 days and turn the motor over by hand replace the glow plugs and start it, change the oil aand call it good. this process has never failed me yet i did it to an old john deere that had sat for 20+ years ended up leaving the e pb blaster in it for 2 weeks occasionally rocking the crank when i remembered and eventually it freed up