How do I know my piston rings are installed correctly?

[olie05]

I posted this on zcar.com and didn't get the answer i needed so I will post here...

Is there a way of knowing that I installed the rings correctly? They caught a little on the way in, but I'm assuming that 's just the transition from ring compressor to bore. There are no scratches on the cylinder walls or anything obvious like that, but are there any little signs I can look for to know if the rings are on right?

 

I just want to make sure I have the rings installed right before I torque down the head, but i'm too lazy to take all the pistons out and re-install...

[z-ya]

First of all, read and UNDERSTAND the directions that cam with your new rings. Different manufacturers use different ring top designations.

 

Typically, the two oil rings (thin shiny ones) and the expander (wavy looking thing), go on first. Then one of the two compression rings next. You can't get the compression rings messup as far as which groove they go into because the top groove is wider than the second groove. The question is if you got the two compressions rings right side up. Some mfgs. put a little dot to indicate the top of the ring. Some rings are tapered to indicated the top. Sometimes the second compression ring has no designation, which means it can go on either way. What brand rings do you have?

 

Also, you need to position the gaps so they do not overlap. With the notch on the top of the piston being 12:00, put the top ring gap at 2:00, the sencond compression ring at 8:00. The oil rings should be staggered also, with the end gaps of the expander not overlapping each other.

 

If you don't think you got them in there correct, now is the time to pop them back out. Just be carefull not to ding up the crank journals. It is a lott easier to do it now, than after you got it back in the car.

 

Pete