I have a locked up engine in a1992 Dodge Stealth that was given to me. It is my dream car. I have seen various videos of people that have unlocked the engines using the same method. That is my next approach. Thanks for the video
tap the sides with a dead blow or plastic hammer. The rings are slightly proud of the piston and sometimes the shock of the hammer blow will break the bond and will let you work the rings off. This works especially if you get one end free like you had. 72 Courier with blown head gasket. water sat for years and I got them loose but 1 bore was toast with a 2mm deep gouge from erosion.
Remember that piston rings are fragile and break easily. Lots of patience, light tapping, prying, oil, and perhaps heat would be the answer. I think the heat in this case made the ring even more brittle and susceptible to breakage.
Once one end is free and can be pulled out of the groove just enough to insert a knife blade between it and the piston, coax the knife around the piston inside the ring. This puts less snap - inducing stress on the ring than just pulling on the end, I think. It worked for me, anyway. I threw money at the project and used a Dollarama small snap off blade knife.
Mate, soak the Pistons in a tiny amount of MEK (Methyl-Ethyle Ketone), just enough to cover the crown. (make sure that shit doesn't get on your head gasket! It'll eat it.) When you are ready to empty it, flush the cylinders with water *Heavily*. Then keep the plugs out for purging, as usual. Then drain. Obviously, keep it super slow when oiling back up.
I use Purple Power 50% on carburetors all the time. Soak overnight and it usually works great. Maybe try an ultrasonic cleaner with Purple Power for the rings. Thanks
I have seen a couple of other repair guys on TH-cam use a 50% Purple Power & water solution for carburetor soaking, and it gave good results from what I had seen. I bought a gallon at Walmart recently, and will try it the next time I need to rebuild a carb.
Maybe if you would have used some oil/pblaster/lubricant that ring would have freed up once it started moving. I think you were a bit impatient with this. Thanks for posting the video.
I'm thinking vinegar would work. I'm trying one on a Harbor Freight Honda clone right now. I let it sit for a day and it seemed to help but I need to go ahead and let it set longer. I do have a bucket of diesel I've been soaking other parts so I may try that if the vinegar doesn't work.
I tried every thing for couple days but one ring was still half stuck so got fence wire thats flexible and smoothed end of it then bent it same angle as piston and slowly pushed under the ring bit by bit being gentle and bending wire bit more using plenty of wd40 and got it that way
Use marvel mystery oil and seafoam together that's what im using for my truck.. Ill let you guys know how it went should know by tomorrow night 24 hour soak v8 and rotated my my engine and i put more fuel oil treatment in it blow down in the the cylinder to push the anti corrosion cleaners into valves and they they will be soaking over 24 hours.
Thanks for the vid. I have rings stuck in a piston from a 1958, 2 stroke generator. I can't find parts so I can't break the rings or this old thing will be doomed.
Great video! I bought a parts washer from TSC a couple years ago and have only used it as a cart. It seems to be a really nice one but when I read the instructions it said to use a non petroleum based solvent. Would you recommend using Purple Power in my parts washer? Thanks!
I would recommend using it, but I would dilute it in half. Not sure if it is possible but if you would go with full strength PP and then suck water through the hose to keep the pump clean at the end it may work. What solvent is recommended for the parts cleaners?
doublewide6 I did some searching and it looks like there are quite a few biodegradable solvents out there. Purple Power is listed. Simple Green is too but Purple Power seems to be the most economical to buy.
So my names Andrew doing my first rebuild on a stihl ms260 chainsaw, how do I know, if I bent the rings to much taking them off? (they were stuck) then when I tried putting them back on the piston. They will move but not real good? Sorry to take your time, I appreciate the videos and like they way you explain things, I’m not a mechanic or real familiar, with the eternal combustion motor. I can’t afford the 300.00 they want to rebuild it at the local hardware store, so I’m going to try it myself,Parts were only 25.00.
Once you have a little movement, just get a small wooden mallet or handle of a screwdriver and tap lightly around it. It will slowly start to get more and more movement. Dont beat the hell out of it, just tap so the ring goes in and out. A little WD40 will help.
I've heard when people quench something after they heat it up they dip it in motor oil. That might be for used for something else though. Was talking today with an old logger he uses a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF to unseize things and clean the pitch off chainsaw bars. It's something I'm going to have to try to see how well it works. Great video DW6!!
Many on here are saying go with the ATF, I need to get some on hand. Thanks for the tip. The oil quench is used for hardening metal. It is part of the heat treating process if you are forging metal like a knife or a chisel then you quench the metal in oil at the right time, so your tool holds the edge or tip/blade.
sometimes when I have stuck rings, if part of the ring is loose I take a screwdriver and use the plastic handle kinda like a hammer and keep tapping the ring as I try to push up on the ring to make kind of a "bubble" just before the stuck area and a lot of the time that will kinda shock it loose, takes a while sometimes though, and doesn't always work..
I have done that tapping before, and I had both ends of the ring loose, so if I would have started tapping on the middle it would have popped loose instead of breaking.
I think my rings are stuck but I can NOT get pistons out w/o pulling the motor (boat, no room) out. ANY idea how to free those rings while piston stays in cylinder?
@@markdesselle5572 yes it is. That was a year ago and since then we did get it to release the rings. To anyone else in this jam, we took the head off to gain access to the top of the pistons. The 1 that wouldn't budge in the cylinder is the one we suspected of stuck rings. So we sprayed every kind of rust release agent we could find, also soaked it over night in different diesel additives, nothing seemed to work until we had the last idea and nothing to loose. We put a 2x4 on the piston and would hit it with a rubber mallet from all 360 directions and finally the rings broke free. The piston would finally move from side to side in the cylinder. We put it all back together, siphoned all those additives and oils out, put in new oil and fired that puppy up. Pain in the ass but we did find a way to do it.
Don't use a screwdriver! Use a feeler gauge. Slide it a bit, then shoot some wd40 and remove the feller gauge and push on the free end. Do this till it frees up. Some rings just are just going to break
for heavy siezed ring and if the piston is aluminum or even metal, yeah a chemical bath helps but for better results, use heat. Metal expands and contracts with heat. An hour in your wifes cooking microwave (better than the torch because your heating the entire part, not just a spot) will free it up! Metal properties and thermodynamics 101
I'm in the process of doing that now kerosene and transmission fluid heated the Piston up and drop it in did it twice hasn't worked yet keeping my fingers crossed
Usuallly, there is some damage to the cylinders, but many times the cylinder is cast metal and harder, and it does not have near the damage of the piston skirt. So you could replace the piston and be back in business.
Why don’t you just replace them? Then all you do is clean the ring groove with a broken ring, put the rings on the piston, hone cylinders and get some good compression back in that engine.
I have a locked up engine in a1992 Dodge Stealth that was given to me. It is my dream car. I have seen various videos of people that have unlocked the engines using the same method. That is my next approach. Thanks for the video
@Frederick Haas I put a used engine in it.
tap the sides with a dead blow or plastic hammer. The rings are slightly proud of the piston and sometimes the shock of the hammer blow will break the bond and will let you work the rings off. This works especially if you get one end free like you had. 72 Courier with blown head gasket. water sat for years and I got them loose but 1 bore was toast with a 2mm deep gouge from erosion.
Remember that piston rings are fragile and break easily. Lots of patience, light tapping, prying, oil, and perhaps heat would be the answer. I think the heat in this case made the ring even more brittle and susceptible to breakage.
Once one end is free and can be pulled out of the groove just enough to insert a knife blade between it and the piston, coax the knife around the piston inside the ring. This puts less snap - inducing stress on the ring than just pulling on the end, I think. It worked for me, anyway. I threw money at the project and used a Dollarama small snap off blade knife.
Mate, soak the Pistons in a tiny amount of MEK (Methyl-Ethyle Ketone), just enough to cover the crown. (make sure that shit doesn't get on your head gasket! It'll eat it.)
When you are ready to empty it, flush the cylinders with water *Heavily*.
Then keep the plugs out for purging, as usual.
Then drain.
Obviously, keep it super slow when oiling back up.
I use Purple Power 50% on carburetors all the time. Soak overnight and it usually works great. Maybe try an ultrasonic cleaner with Purple Power for the rings. Thanks
Stephen May
thats what i was going to suggest. i use an ultrasonic cleaner to do carburetors and it works like magic!
I have seen a couple of other repair guys on TH-cam use a 50% Purple Power & water solution for carburetor soaking, and it gave good results from what I had seen. I bought a gallon at Walmart recently, and will try it the next time I need to rebuild a carb.
Not a bad idea. Thanks
I have pretty good success with my ultrasonic cleaner too.
I usually just go full strength and use the ultra sonic cleaner. If I soak overnight (bad carbs) I dilute with water not quite 50/50
Maybe if you would have used some oil/pblaster/lubricant that ring would have freed up once it started moving. I think you were a bit impatient with this. Thanks for posting the video.
I'm sure he has plenty of replacements and wasnt too worried about replacing that ring. He just wanted to see what might work
The 2 gallon Behr ceiling paint bucket is key to success! Soak it in kerosone/diesel fuel works too
I don't have all these things laying around, good to know though.
I was thinking varsol paint thinner. Kerosone might keep it oily though, good for assembly. I will pricece it out and buy a gallon of the cheaper.
I used heat and quench the part in diesel or furnace oil. I guess it act like penetrating oil.
I'm thinking vinegar would work. I'm trying one on a Harbor Freight Honda clone right now. I let it sit for a day and it seemed to help but I need to go ahead and let it set longer. I do have a bucket of diesel I've been soaking other parts so I may try that if the vinegar doesn't work.
Did this work
@@xero_d4rkx650 nah
I tried every thing for couple days but one ring was still half stuck so got fence wire thats flexible and smoothed end of it then bent it same angle as piston and slowly pushed under the ring bit by bit being gentle and bending wire bit more using plenty of wd40 and got it that way
Use marvel mystery oil and seafoam together that's what im using for my truck..
Ill let you guys know how it went should know by tomorrow night 24 hour soak v8 and rotated my my engine and i put more fuel oil treatment in it blow down in the the cylinder to push the anti corrosion cleaners into valves and they they will be soaking over 24 hours.
Thanks for the vid. I have rings stuck in a piston from a 1958, 2 stroke generator. I can't find parts so I can't break the rings or this old thing will be doomed.
Great video! I bought a parts washer from TSC a couple years ago and have only used it as a cart. It seems to be a really nice one but when I read the instructions it said to use a non petroleum based solvent. Would you recommend using Purple Power in my parts washer?
Thanks!
I would recommend using it, but I would dilute it in half. Not sure if it is possible but if you would go with full strength PP and then suck water through the hose to keep the pump clean at the end it may work. What solvent is recommended for the parts cleaners?
doublewide6 I did some searching and it looks like there are quite a few biodegradable solvents out there. Purple Power is listed. Simple Green is too but Purple Power seems to be the most economical to buy.
I would give it a shot. I get good results with it.
Why not use Vinegar? Amazing on rust
thanks gonna go try this now. upper and middle ring are free but the oil ring is carboned up. Have a like and a sub. :D
Would seized rings cause extremely low compression reading? Like less than 20 psi?
Yes..I believe so
Yep.
So my names Andrew doing my first rebuild on a stihl ms260 chainsaw, how do I know, if I bent the rings to much taking them off? (they were stuck) then when I tried putting them back on the piston. They will move but not real good? Sorry to take your time, I appreciate the videos and like they way you explain things, I’m not a mechanic or real familiar, with the eternal combustion motor. I can’t afford the 300.00 they want to rebuild it at the local hardware store, so I’m going to try it myself,Parts were only 25.00.
I am sure you can get results with a heat gun ,then soak ! About to do my BB pitons .
Once you have a little movement, just get a small wooden mallet or handle of a screwdriver and tap lightly around it. It will slowly start to get more and more movement. Dont beat the hell out of it, just tap so the ring goes in and out. A little WD40 will help.
I've heard when people quench something after they heat it up they dip it in motor oil. That might be for used for something else though. Was talking today with an old logger he uses a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF to unseize things and clean the pitch off chainsaw bars. It's something I'm going to have to try to see how well it works. Great video DW6!!
Many on here are saying go with the ATF, I need to get some on hand. Thanks for the tip. The oil quench is used for hardening metal. It is part of the heat treating process if you are forging metal like a knife or a chisel then you quench the metal in oil at the right time, so your tool holds the edge or tip/blade.
Heating and dipping in oil is used for tempering metal to make it stronger.
sometimes when I have stuck rings, if part of the ring is loose I take a screwdriver and use the plastic handle kinda like a hammer and keep tapping the ring as I try to push up on the ring to make kind of a "bubble" just before the stuck area and a lot of the time that will kinda shock it loose, takes a while sometimes though, and doesn't always work..
I have done that tapping before, and I had both ends of the ring loose, so if I would have started tapping on the middle it would have popped loose instead of breaking.
i just have a sonic cleaner with marvel mystery oil in it just dont run it inside i done it a lot in the past but one time it started a fire
I think my rings are stuck but I can NOT get pistons out w/o pulling the motor (boat, no room) out. ANY idea how to free those rings while piston stays in cylinder?
Not possible
@@markdesselle5572 yes it is. That was a year ago and since then we did get it to release the rings. To anyone else in this jam, we took the head off to gain access to the top of the pistons. The 1 that wouldn't budge in the cylinder is the one we suspected of stuck rings. So we sprayed every kind of rust release agent we could find, also soaked it over night in different diesel additives, nothing seemed to work until we had the last idea and nothing to loose. We put a 2x4 on the piston and would hit it with a rubber mallet from all 360 directions and finally the rings broke free. The piston would finally move from side to side in the cylinder. We put it all back together, siphoned all those additives and oils out, put in new oil and fired that puppy up. Pain in the ass but we did find a way to do it.
Nice fix Bob . Some people use coke to break the rust out .
Cheers Pete.
I guess you mean Coke-Cola? I am getting lots of suggestions I could run about 4 more video tests if I had the pistons to do it.
Hi Bob . Yes Cola . A few guys who restore old engines swear by it . It sure eats rust up .
I thought he meant cocaine?
Nice experiment. Thanks, Bob.
Thanks, I'm still trying to take away what I actually found out from my experiment. If you don't succeed at first, try again. Next time with ATF
I used a torch and candle wax method 👍🏽
Explain?
Don't use a screwdriver! Use a feeler gauge. Slide it a bit, then shoot some wd40 and remove the feller gauge and push on the free end. Do this till it frees up. Some rings just are just going to break
for heavy siezed ring and if the piston is aluminum or even metal, yeah a chemical bath helps but for better results, use heat. Metal expands and contracts with heat. An hour in your wifes cooking microwave (better than the torch because your heating the entire part, not just a spot) will free it up! Metal properties and thermodynamics 101
Micro wave ? You're going to have lots of sparks and a "shot" Micro Wave, putting Metal in it!
@@woolyhighlander7280 i ment to say oven. You can tell i dont cook 😂
nice job and thanks for sharing.
Do not listen to this video. I did what he said. Not only did the rings not loosen up at all the purple power ate into the pistons ruining them.
i heat the piston and then put it in a bucket of ATF and Diesel fuel works every time
Good to know, you are the second person that mentioned the ATF and Diesel.
it's cheap and ez this is how i do it heat and soak heat and soak and it works awesome
I'm in the process of doing that now kerosene and transmission fluid heated the Piston up and drop it in did it twice hasn't worked yet keeping my fingers crossed
I believe it's Donnyboy73, Not 74.
Thanks, my bad, I was just going off memory. Sorry Donny:(
I’d try an ultrasonic cleaner.
thanks for sharing!
No problem, I'm sure it will be helpful to someone out there. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Bob
Thank you 👍
If the rings are that bad, wouldn't the cylinder be damaged(scored) as well?
Usuallly, there is some damage to the cylinders, but many times the cylinder is cast metal and harder, and it does not have near the damage of the piston skirt. So you could replace the piston and be back in business.
Big Mack m
Why don’t you just replace them? Then all you do is clean the ring groove with a broken ring, put the rings on the piston, hone cylinders and get some good compression back in that engine.
If you replace rings without a hone won't it break the rings on the ring ridge?
Thanks for sharing!