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S/V/C Stuck Piston Rings: How to Free Up?

SteveMD

SteveMD

Membro
Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Location
Well, I switched baristas.
Let's say oil consumption went through the roof due to poor maintenance, lots of granny driving and the diagnosis was stuck piston rings on one or more cylinders.

How would you go about freeing the ****ers up? I'm thinking about pouring in some chemical, Berryman's or such like via the spark plug hole and letting it sit a while, rotate crank by hand, and so on.
 
Isn't that what the Engine RX stuff does? Or the Sea Foam treatment?

We had a B20F that was stuck from sitting. For that we put a 50/50 combo of kerosene and ATF in the cylinders and let it sit a week. Came free after a bit of trying and ran well till it got parked.
 
dl242gt said:
Isn't that what the Engine RX stuff does? Or the Sea Foam treatment?

We had a B20F that was stuck from sitting. For that we put a 50/50 combo of kerosene and ATF in the cylinders and let it sit a week. Came free after a bit of trying and ran well till it got parked.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dave, I guess that if anything would free up rings stuck in their grooves, that might.
 
I have had good luck using Amzoil oil cleaner. You put it in the oil, and then idle the car for 15 minutes. You then drain the oil.

I then use a good synthetic oil. Synthetic oil is fantastic for cleaning sludge from the engine. I add a can of Seafood to the gas.

It's worked well for me, even on a Saturn Twin Cam, which are renowned for sticking oil rings.

I have heard of people pulling the spark plugs, and pouring the Amzoil cleaner in the spark plug holes, and letting them sit for a week, but I have never had to go beyond what I talked about above.


Dave Riedle
 
Jack up the pass. side of the vehicle to "level' the bores up. Kero & ATF sounds like the right stuff..... or just plain old spray penetrant oil. Time & penetrant, FTW......
 
No "tune up in a can" is going to fix stuck rings.

You have to get the crap out from behind the rings.

The only way to do that is to disassemble it.
 
What about the old remedy for vintage (and I mean real vintage) cars that have been sitting? Pull the plugs, squirt Marvel Mystery Oil in and let them sit. For days. Then put a breaker bar on the crank.
 
If you go that route and use a breaker bar, would it be advisable to turn it back counter-clockwise after you free it by turning it clockwise?

I'm thinking it might help to scrape off any gunk by going back and forth, clockwise and counter, to and through to point it was stuck at.

I shouldn't hurt anything to turn it counter-clockwise, should it?
 
I don't think you guys are answering the question: how to free up rings stuck on the pistons, not the actual cylinder walls.

I don't see how a breaker bar will cause any damage if the problem is too much of a gap between the ring and the cylinder walls.
 
Yeah. marvel mystery oil in the bores. Let it sit and "rock" the crank a couple times a day. You don't have to do full rotations, just a little forward and back in order to put some different loads on the rings.
 
I did pretty much the same. I used a bunch of PB Blaster down the bores the first round. Then, Marvel Mystery oil the second round. The compression rings were stuck after having a leaking head gasket replaced on a 960. After the week of soaking in both oils, the rings freed up and the engine ran fine.
 
I second the Marvel Mystery oil approach. My 1993 940 T had excessive crank pressure and it was from stuck rings, and compression blowing past the rings, into the crank case. It only took me months to figure that was my high CCP source was from that. Anyway, I waited until it was due for an oil change and put a couple ounces of MMO into each spark plug hole and let it sit overnight, and also put a half quart into the oil ( I'm skeered to use the recommended amount, it is so thin) and drove it for 30 miles or so and changed the oil. MAN!!! It ran like a scalded dog after that! Although, the kerosene/ATF would probably work just as well. I run MMO in my gas all the time. It lubes stuff the oil doesn't reach.

Also, autorx is great stuff. I have ran a few cycles through this turbo as well. It works well at cleaning up a sludge problem. The 95 Saab turbos have a real problem with Sludge, and the guys on the SAAB forums swear by it. My brother has one, and it really helped with his sludge problem/.
 
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