Routy wrote on 12/09/09 at 05:23:22:




He's talking about the microgrooves that ARE the seating in process,

I have been diverted the last couple of days with electrical wiring for the kitchen makeover project.
I have not been able to find my compression check kit...I thought I had one ...... could be living in a fatanacy tool world though...I think I need to pick one up tomorrrow.  I will check for cylinder pressure then.  I suspect that compression is adequate, based on how it is running.  
Power seems decent when considering the oil blowing through the engine.    I need to drop a needle size; power drops off from about 1/2 throttle.  I will take it down the road again in the morning after changing the needle and see if the oil blow is decreasing or not.
The cyliinder walls were in reallyl good condition when pulled apart (one scratch on the wall of about 2.5-3" from a piece of grit of some sort but it is of no concern).   The crosshatching of the bore/hone job done previously was still visible on about 40% of the cyl. wall.  I need to call Boretech about doing another hone and new rings or if the current ones are ok.   I will do that tomorrow.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

smokin_blue wrote on 12/10/09 at 02:47:56:


The engine only had about 8k miles on it since the new piston with bore/hone + silicone carbide treatment.

Ok,......it was a serious reply, so are we in the thinking that the rings never turn on a piston ? I hope we all know they do.
Maybe I been outta this business too long ! I never heard the term "microgrooves" when I was in the business.

Routy wrote on 12/09/09 at 05:23:22:

Routy wrote on 12/10/09 at 06:06:00:


They can rotate ... yes.  At less till seated.  But......  is there really anyway to see it they rotate once they're seated.....????    

I hazard a gues-stimate that once seated they do not.....  otherwise they would never be seated....  yes/no???

I just got off the phone with a tech dude from Boretech and his thoughts were, considering the details of what has transpired, that this is probably an oil ring issue and recommended a new ring set along with a ball honing of the cylinder wall.  
Perhaps the ring lost some tension during the process of disassembly and reassembly.

He suggested that I take a magnified closeup look at the ring set before removing from the piston to see if the problem can be identified.

So back out she comes.

Check out these- http://www.totalseal.com/.  I've used these in 4 cyl. race engines that turn 8k & they are great. Used the same set for 3 seasons & still only had  2-3% leakdown, compression 185-195.

IMHO, these are worth the money. They also pass less contaminants into your oil.